Vereesa's stallion nearly tumbled as she reined it into a sudden stop at the entrance to the Horde camp. The orc guards had crossed their spears in front of her, but otherwise did not stir themselves or prepare for an attack.
"I'm here to see King Anduin," she demanded.
The orc to her left - a bigger one with two matching braids of thick black hair - shrugged his massive shoulders in response. "He be with the Warchief," was his only response as he resumed watching the road entering the camp.
So it's true then?
Being on horseback gave her a better vantage point, so she glanced around the camp for a familiar face. There weren't that many people out for such a big camp. A handful of grunts patrolling the lines of tents, a Forsaken or two ambling about, a Dark Ranger sitting still in a tree overlooking the camp, and a couple of elves carrying a troll in a stretcher.
Vereesa sighed a sigh of relief at the sight of a patch of purple skin and a familiar nightsaber. Tyrande turned to her in surprise as she called her and gave her a small smile.
"Let her through, orc," she demanded, "she is with me." The orc to her left turned to see who the command came from and, shrugging one more time, lifted his spear, his partner following suit. Vereesa had little time to contemplate an orc taking orders from a night elf before she trotted over to Tyrande.
"Lady Windrunner," she greeted. The night elf's tone was warm but with a hint of fatigue.
Vereesa jumped down from her horse and took a bow. "Please, call me Vereesa."
"As you wish."
"So it's true then? Anduin and Sylvanas…"
"Are getting married, yes. They're discussing terms now… at least I hope that's what they're doing." Tyrande gave a sideways glance towards the main tent at the center of the camp. "The Banshee made it seem like she had other things in mind."
Vereesa coughed. "So what did he… how did this… how did this come about? Has Anduin told you anything?"
A large troll with orange hair woven into braids passed by, sparing them only a brief look.
Tyrande nodded. "He did. I'm assuming you are aware of our tactical situation in this war?"
"Somewhat, yes. Things weren't looking good."
"An understatement if there ever was one. We were going to lose Darnassus before reinforcements arrived." Vereesa flinched. "Anduin saw an opportunity and approached with an offer of marriage along with a number of concessions. Sylvanas agreed."
Vereesa felt her brows furrow into a frown. "This last bit surprises me, my sister agreeing. I hope Anduin realizes she must have some ulterior motive. He isn't her type."
Tyrande raised an eyebrow. "She has a type?"
"Had? I don't know about now, but Sylvanas was quite the flirt in Silvermoon."
"I see. From what Anduin has told me, he is aware of her motivations and believes the peace is worth it regardless. I am not so sure, but he asked for my consent and I gave it. We are thoroughly beaten, even if we were to hold out a few more days it wouldn't have made much of a difference. At the very least this peace gives us time to regroup and recover."
"I need to see her."
"Her? I thought you were here for Anduin. Why do you need to see the Banshee?"
Vereesa bristled at the night elf's tone. "She is my sister," she responded coldly, "and she's getting married. Why else?"
Tyrande shook her head, frowning sadly. "Sylvanas is a walking corpse, Vereesa. Your sister has been gone for over a decade now. The faster you realize that, the better."
She felt a frigid anger bubbling up inside, but gritted her teeth to keep herself from lashing out. "You and Alleria would make for good friends, it seems," she finally replied and bowed. "With your leave, Priestess."
She did not wait for Tyrande's reply before walking away.
Vereesa steeled herself at the entrance to the tent and blew out a nervous puff of air. Memories of her last meeting with Sylvanas played over and over in her head: her sister's standing with her back to her, never turning, not when she made her apology, not even when Vereesa finally departed. Today will be different.
Life was a funny thing. How many times had Vereesa risked her own life without a second thought to battle the enemies of her people or of Azeroth itself? All that supposed bravery and yet, when she decided to renege on her agreement with Sylvanas, she chickened out and wrote her a letter. Did she know that she would be breaking her sister's heart when she wrote it? She must have known, because why else would she be afraid? Vereesa didn't want to look into her sister's undead eyes and tell her that, once again, she was leaving her to be with the living instead.
Today will be different. Fate had granted her another chance and no matter how strange, how out of the blue, how ridiculously infinitesimal this chance might be, Vereesa would take it. She owed Lady Moon that much.
She knew, of course, that Sylvanas wasn't entering this marriage in good faith. That there were likely schemes upon schemes already in place to take advantage of the situation and bring the Alliance down from within. They may become enemies once again - perhaps even soon - but for this brief moment, suddenly, she found herself on the same side as her sister. Wasn't this a sign if there ever was one?
Today will be different. She wasn't expecting a warm welcome or any welcome at all. She was going to simply try and keep trying until she could no longer do so. She wasn't going to chicken out anymore.
She slowly released another lungful of air through partially closed teeth. You've got this, Vereesa. Forcing a smile on her lips, she pushed aside the tent flap and entered.
Two crimson eyes observed her in a mirror ahead of her. Sylvanas stood there with her hood off, her blonde hair spilling down freely, as one of her dark rangers unbuckled her pauldrons. The ranger moved to leave, but Sylvanas raised her hand and she continued with the task.
"Sylvanas, I -"
"I have no need of you, sister." The last word was spat like an insult. Sylvanas's eyes left her, moving to observe the dark ranger instead.
"I know, it's just - "
"Why are you here?"
Vereesa felt tears coming on and sniffed preemptively. "Because my big sister is getting married?"
Sylvanas's eyes returned to hers again.
"Look… I chickened out last time. I did, alright? You know why? Because I was so afraid to see you hurt when I didn't go through with our plan. I wrote you a letter because I was afraid to see the consequences of my actions, I just wanted to run away instead. I was a coward. So I meant my apology last time we saw each other and I mean it right now. I did you wrong. And I do hope you'll forgive me one day. But even if you haven't yet, could you allow me to be by your side today? It's not every day that a sister gets married… and I would hate to miss this moment with you."
The crimson gaze did not leave her.
"Let me at least help you dress, Lady Moon. Please?"
The dark ranger paused, holding the pauldron she had just taken off. Vereesa's heart thumped a rapid beat against her eardrums. The silence seemed to stretch for minutes when, suddenly, she saw Sylvanas give a nearly imperceptible nod to the ranger. Instantly, the ranger bowed and marched out of the tent, handing the pauldron over to Vereesa. The thumping in her ears became louder.
She glanced over at the armor on the stand. It wasn't the dark red that Sylvanas normally wore, but a ranger's emerald green leather armor, much lighter and much more form-fitting. Vereesa smiled at her sister in the mirror, trying to ignore the tension between them.
"You're really wearing armor to your wedding?"
A corner of her sister's mouth curled into a pretty smirk. "It is only appropriate for a blunderbuss wedding, don't you think?"
Vereesa hung the pauldron on the empty armor stand and approached her sister to unbuckle the other.
"A blunderbuss wedding? Why, big sister, did you have a dalliance with the High King of the Alliance?"
Sylvanas snorted. "A dalliance? The little lion can keep dreaming." With the other pauldron hung up, Vereesa started on the gorget, Sylvanas lifting her chin for better access. "But you could say he is being forced into marriage by the might of the Horde at his doorstep."
Vereesa grinned at her. "You say 'dalliance' like it's a bad thing. Anduin is not his father," Sylvanas gave another snort, "and he is a mite young… but you have to admit he's handsome. And don't think I didn't notice your nickname for him. Surely he's worth having a dalliance with?"
Her elder sister gave her a sweet smile. "I was planning to kill you before you joined me in the Undercity. Did you know that? You could not rule the Forsaken with me while living, so I planned to make you one of us."
Her reciprocal smile faltered at the sudden change of topic. Well, she doesn't pull any punches. She turned away to hang up the gorget and give herself a moment.
"I know… Honestly?" she turned back to meet her sister's eyes. "I don't think you're the only one who has the right to be offended by what happened between us. You think I would've been happy to be killed?"
Sylvanas's feigned smile died, returning her face to the stern visage of the Queen of the Forsaken. "Then why did you come?"
"I came because I heard a rumor that my big sister was getting married and I would've hated myself for the rest of my life if I missed it. Regardless of what happened between us." She reached down for the side buckles that kept her breastplate in place, feeling her sister's intense gaze on her as she worked. "I love you, Lady Moon. I always have and always will. I did want to join you, really. But I have to put my children first, I'm sure you can understand? They've lost their father - how could they lose their mother too? It's not like I'd turn them into Forsaken as well!"
She finished with the breastplate, leaving Sylvanas in a rough leather vest, and hung the armor in its proper place.
"You knew I was going to kill you?"
Vereesa nodded. "I suspected it, yes. I understand, really. You're all alone out there. You could've had family with you again. I don't hold it against you. I'm just sorry how it all turned out."
She worked in silence for a while, removing the greaves and helping Sylvanas step out of the chainmail and the leather pants underneath. The leather vest came off too, leaving the simple shirt of white linen underneath.
"I'm sorry I couldn't join you then. I don't think I'm ready to die yet." She stepped back to look at her sister again and took hold of her cold shoulders. "Tell you what, though. When I do die? I give you permission to Raise me. Just… you know… don't assassinate me on purpose or anything."
She turned to the green armor, considering. "Now, this one's usually worn with mail, but I think we'll skip that for the ceremony, don't you think? Show some skin?" She turned back to Sylvanas, eyebrows raised in question.
"I was going to assassinate you at Windrunner spire. My rangers were in place."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
"You apologized."
There was something so ridiculous about this conversation that Vereesa burst out laughing, embracing the undead elf tightly. "Killing your sister unless she apologizes?" she said into her ear. "Lady Moon, you are drama." Sylvanas tried to push her off, but she held on. "I will take this lack of assassination as a sign of being forgiven then."
"You will do no such thing." Her sister's voice was slightly muffled by Vereesa's cloak.
"It's too late."
"Let go of me, Vereesa."
"Only if you forgive me."
"I have no mind for games."
"Neither do I."
An exasperated sigh accompanied a brief touch of hands on Vereesa's back. "Fine."
Grinning, she finally released her sister and turned back to the armor. She spun back again to observe the undead elf's undergarments. "Are you going straight to your tent with him after the wedding?"
"There will be a feast first."
"Will you change before eating?"
"I will not be eating, Vereesa. But no, I will not change."
"So you'll be wearing this," she gestured at her sister's attire, "under your armor on your wedding night?"
"Yes."
"Belore, no. No, no, no. We are finding you something more appropriate than battle linen."
Sylvanas grabbed her below the shoulder. "I am not sleeping with him after the wedding."
Vereesa shrugged her off. "Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. I highly doubt you would be completely disinterested in what the King is like in private, but either way we are finding you something far more deserving of a Windrunner to wear."
The undead elf scoffed. "I am dead, Little Moon. I don't feel. There is nothing to be interested in."
"Even then."
Procuring her travel bag from the mount outside, she pulled out a set of lingerie of a conveniently emerald color. "These are new," she declared. "And should fit you. We were of the same size, if I recall. There is much less here in the way of cloth, but I believe it'll look a lot better." She paused, seeing the look in her elder sister's eyes. "Don't give me that look. And no, I won't be explaining why I'm carrying this around in my travel bag." The undead elf snorted in reply.
Despite repeated protests, Sylvanas was soon dressed in her green armor, sans the mail, leaving a good chunk of her skin exposed.
They were interrupted by the dark ranger stepping back into the tent. She bowed lightly, making no sign she noticed Sylvanas's change of attire. "There is a matter outside that requires your attention, Dark Lady." Her accent screamed kal'dorei despite the undead echo.
Her sister turned to the ranger. "Who is it?"
"A troll named Jimu with a captive."
"I will see him. My cloak."
The ranger hurried to grab a dark garment from a nearby trunk and draped it over Sylvanas's shoulders, effectively hiding her green armor except for the leather greaves. Her sister lowered the hood over her head, her pale elven ears sliding through easily, thus completing the transformation back to the Queen of the Forsaken.
Nodding to Vereesa, she stepped out, following the ranger.
Vereesa took the moment alone to take a deep breath and try to slow her rapidly beating heart. Staying chipper in the face of her sister's negativity felt like trying to cut away at a rock with an axe. But it seemed to be bearing fruit. She closed her eyes, breathing. Minutes passed and she felt her pulse slow.
Sylvanas's voice brought her back to reality. "You've forgotten the gorget." She took off her cloak and passed it to the ranger who returned to its place before exiting the tent.
"Have you become a nun of the Light? A gorget? At your wedding? I refuse. Do you have jewelry?"
Sylvanas nodded at a trunk by the armor stand. Vereesa opened it to reveal some clothes and a variety of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and the like, some of which seemed vaguely familiar. "Ah, now this," she pulled out a ruby pendant on a long silver chain, "this you'll wear."
"I thought you were going to help me with my armor. Who made you my fashion advisor?"
"I did. And you'll deal with it. Just tonight. And no pouting - you've forgiven me, remember?"
Her sister's face was unamused. "How could I forget," she intoned flatly.
A variety of jewelry in place, Vereesa moved on to makeup, over more lazy protests.
Finally, she stepped back to admire her work. She sighed. "You've always worn this color well. I'm sure Anduin would enjoy seeing you in this more often."
Her sister rolled her eyes. "And you've always been a chatterbox. At this pace, I'll miss my wedding before I'm finished being properly dressed."
Vereesa smiled and gave Sylvanas a kiss on a cold cheek. "I'm just happy I'm here."