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The morning sun barely started to shine in the sky that I woke up, feeling far more tired than I had been recently, and I knew exactly why. I had been so worked up that I didn't managed to sleep much, and even now as I laid in my bed I still had no clear opinion on this stupid war, if I should take part to it or not. In all honesty, I didn't wanted to, fighting for others had been my credo for most of my life and even if it was a very noble cause, it wasn't something I aimed to do anymore. Some might have called me selfish or cruel for that but after what I went through, I think I deserved some peace. Nozdormu told me that I wouldn't have to take part in any major event of this world, and it was exactly what I intended to do.
Letting out a tired sigh, lazily getting out of my bed before changing myself into my usual outfit, I left my bedroom without anything precise in mind. Walking to a relatively slow pace, I made my way to the dining room where I found myself alone with one servant that was just standing here.
"Good morning my Lady, is there anything you desire for breakfast?" He asked me.
I was about to reply when I noticed that I wasn't hungry at all, and that I wouldn't be before quite some time. Sometimes having a dragon stomach wasn't that good.
"I don't think so. Do you know when the king leaves for Undercity?" I asked a bit groggily, still trying to chase away the sleepiness from my body.
"The King shall depart at four in the afternoon." He replied far too seriously.
"Thank you." I said.
I didn't really had anything planned for today but staying in the castle all day would probably make me snap, even more if I had to listen to a single thing related to the siege on Undercity or anything about the war. Taking the way to the gates, I was almost at the courtyard that I was stopped by a recognizable figure coming out from a door on the right.
"King Genn." I greeted him with a small bow of the head, barely stopping myself from sighing in front of him.
"Lady Amaria. May I have a moment?" He asked me.
"Certainly." I accepted, curious about where this was going.
He let me pass first into the room he had just exited, which turned out to be a private office, with a few objects displayed on a large shelf, many letters and maps spread on a large table and a small chest on the side of the room. Genn closed the door behind me and walked around the table, looking at me seriously.
"I'm sure Anduin already asked you, but I would like to reiterate our demand for support. I know none of the flights will accept to join us, but perhaps you can fight alongside us. A dragon on our side wouldn't change the war, but it would certainly make them think twice." He said directly.
While it should have been somewhat expectable from him, based on how I saw him act yesterday, it did nothing to keep me calm. I already got enough from Anduin that I no longer knew what to do, listening to this old worgen trying to convince me only worsened my mood.
"Listen, King Greymane, I will decide of joining your war or not. As you said, no flight will come and as far as I know I am part of one of these flights. If I do decide to come, it will be to support you and I certainly won't go fight for you, this is your mess and I want nothing to do with it." I replied curtly while trying to remain polite.
"You know not what this means, don't pretend to stand above all of us like if you are not concerned. It will concern you in a way or another." He replied without losing any confidence.
"Maybe I don't know your fight, but I had my fair share of wars. And you call me for being above others when I am not even part of the Alliance, when I am coming out to explore this world only to discover that it's plagued with war and hatred. Is this what you want to leave to your children?" I asked.
I only had a moment to blink before he snarled and I barely managed to react as he lunged at me, changing in mid-air to become a tall worgen covered with white fur, all teeth and claws out.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY CHILDREN! You know nothing of the sacrifices I had to make!" He bellowed trying to maim me with his claws.
"Of course I don't! But the Horde's blood won't change anything!" I replied as I transfigured my hands to have claws and scales.
Pressing down on me, I infused my hands in magic and lit them up, small flames bursting through our hands. Genn had no choice but release me yet it did nothing to stop him, quickly extending a claw toward my neck. I answered his attack by opening my mouth and blowing out a cone of flame barely a meter away from him, fire covering his frame for a second.
I wasn't actively trying to harm him but at the same time he was dangerous enough that I had to use my magi to defend myself. Forced to back away and flipping the table over, Genn got out of the flames with his brown coat taking most of the damage, slightly singed and only bearing a couple of burns, especially on his arms that he had brought up to protect his face. Seeing the determined and enraged expression on his face said a lot about his pain resistance and I had to at least gave that to him.
But I had to put an end to that fight now, before it would get even more out of hand.
Taking a sprint toward him, he responded to my challenge with his claws stretched forward. I reached for his with my own claws and we both got stuck like this, with our hands in a deadlock as we glared at each other with all the rage we had. He got closer to me, his teeth only centimetres away from my face as he now towered over me, a slight scent of burn coming from him.
"Sylvanas killed my son." He said with an icy, chilly fury that contrasted with his earlier enraged state. "She attacked my people, destroyed my city, and took away my only son. And now I fight for my daughter's future, for the justice Sylvanas must face."
I didn't know that quite important detail, but I didn't let it deter my will, because while I had never lost a child, I had lost many other close friends.
"What you are looking for is not justice, it's vengeance." I said calmly, struggling to face the immense strength of the old king. I might be a dragon, but my human disguise wasn't strong enough to face an enraged worgen too long. "I have lost my parents, great friends, mentors, so many that died for the greater good. I fought because it had to be done and to avenge those who fell, yet it never brought me any satisfaction when I killed the man responsible for all of this." I said thinking about Dobby, Fred, Hedwig, Sirius, Remus, Snape and Dumbledore only to name a few.
Glaring hard at him, I felt him relinquish a bit of his strength and it was due time, my arms were feeling a bit numb, and I didn't wanted to use any more magic against him. We finally separated, both still tensed and wary, as I removed the transfiguration on my arms that was starting to burn. Taking a step back, still in his worgen form, he looked at me with a deep frown without saying a word, barely giving a glance behind me.
"Milord?" Asked a voice behind me.
"Get back to your post." Growled Genn.
The door closed without me and him withering in our duel, staring at each other.
"Perhaps you know what it's like to lose someone." Genn said gruffly, brushing a claw on his coat to remove a small flame still there, before sighing. "But then you should know why I am doing all of this. Why I ask for you to help us."
I nodded, letting the tension slowly recede. "I do, more than many realise. And I see why Sylvanas must be stopped, I agree with you that she has to be removed from the Horde's leadership if the world wants peace. But I am not here to fight for you, I am not here to fight innocents and I won't do anything for vengeance. That never ends well." I said shaking my hands to remove the pain.
"So will you help us? Or are you just going to sit and watch?" He asked still not moved by my words.
"I don't know. You are all asking me to betray my promise, to go insult those who welcomed me and taught me everything about this world. To go fight a war that is not mine." I replied.
He turned back into a human, still frowning but at least I didn't had to see his teeth and claws anymore.
"You are right, that war is not yours. Sylvanas would never go challenge the Dragonflights, you have nothing to fear. So go, go wait in your corner until you're the only ones left." Genn said spitefully as he showed me the door.
Standing silent for a couple of seconds, I sighed and let all of my frustration be very clear to him.
"You are a fool if you truly believe all that you said." I told him before leaving.
'Yes. Leave the old wolf to die alone. Go find your true place in our world.' Said the Old God's voice.
'You're starting to piss me off. Go bother someone else.' I sighed, not caring enough to listen to them anyway.
I left, closing the door behind me loudly without it being slammed. Exhaling loudly, I looked at the few guards around me with an annoyed expression and they instantly proceeded to do as if nothing happened.
"That bloody prick." I mumbled to myself.
How could someone be as stubborn as Genn Greymane, I did not know. Learning about his son's death was motivation enough to demands Sylvanas' head, but so many more than him were only wishing the same. And to add to that he was a king, he should be thinking about his people lives more but it was clear that he preferred his own vengeance than the well-being of the Alliance in this war. At least Anduin was the one leading the Alliance, it was lucky that he was more moderated than Genn, more ready to question himself.
I barely reached the doors to the courtyard that I saw Mia arrive in front of me and I almost sighed at her. Almost.
"I think the whole castle heard you two." She stated without any identifiable emotion.
"Are you here too to accuse me for not joining the war?" I asked tired of all of this.
"No dear. I think you said what you needed to say, and I will have a few words with my husband. Go on with your day." Mia said with a small smile.
"Then put some sense in his plonker's head." I said still angry.
Completely fed up with the old worgen's attitude, I stepped past her and reached the drawbridge, stepping past the few guards on duty. I felt slightly lighter at the thought that at least one person shared my opinion here, but it was still an incredible weight that both Anduin and Genn were putting on my shoulders.
And I truly had no idea of what Genn went through and his personal vendetta against Sylvanas. I could understand it very well, I would gladly help him remove Sylvanas from her seat of Warchief of the Horde. But it was also obvious that Genn would be ready to kill most of the Horde alongside her. I was ready to help put an end to this war, perhaps even joining them if only to fight Sylvanas directly or maybe followers of her that approved of her ideas of mass murder. Yet the rest of the Horde, at least I would guess so with what I learned in Wyrmrest Temple, was a people of honour that I was certain would disprove of Sylvanas' methods with many forced to obey her in fear of being labelled a traitor or maybe even being executed. That was reason enough not to help Genn or even Anduin. Fighting innocents? That would have been Voldemort.
Yet even those standing against Sylvanas in the Horde would be fighting and killing. Many would probably don't have any remorse to kill soldiers of the Alliance, a duty that they would be glad to satisfy. As I said earlier, the Horde was a people of honour and I knew that killing enemies in battle could be considered honorable by many. Such had been the case for some wizards back on Earth. I wouldn't stop this if both sides agreed on fighting for honour yet it was not the case and it would certainly never be. The Alliance was going for Sylvanas' head, a vengeful retaliation against the one who hurt them so much at Teldrassil and hoping to take back their ancient capital in Lordaeron.
This was all such a mess of political, personal, sentimental and beliefs. I honestly didn't wanted to take part to it.
But as Anduin said, I could perhaps help save lives. That single idea, that one sentence, was enough for me to question myself about joining the war or not. I knew that I would regret it if someone I started to become friend with, maybe even Anduin, came to die on the battlefield. I was no healer, that much was certain, but perhaps I could do something else like protecting the doctors and the wounded.
Sighing, I started to banish all of these thoughts, needing a change of air and to relax to forget about it for now.
Walking down toward the old town, I passed in front of a few people already up and going on their daily occupations. The time to reached the Merchant District was enough for me to let go of most of my angered and it reminded me that I had a bracelet to pick up, which brought back some of my good mood. I moved fluently, taking advantage of the fact that there wasn't too many people yet to reach the stand of the goldsmith.
He was already there, his boxes full of many jewels and precious stones exposed under a protecting glass. A man was actually taking his attention, observing a rather ostentatious necklace with a diamond inserted in the middle as well as emeralds on each sides. I just stood aside, watching the two men argue a bit about the price which also served as a pretty good introduction to actual monetary exchanges, the goldsmith finally managing to sell the necklace for two hundred gold coins.
A large smile was on his face as he put his income into a sturdy locked chest beneath his stand, the buyer also looking very pleased with his purchase as I watched him walk away. I moved in front of the stand and instantly got the attention of the goldsmith.
"Good morning mam! Is there anything you desire?" He asked me happily.
"I ordered a bracelet two days ago, gold with rubies. I'm sorry for not coming sooner but I had important matters to deal with." I replied with a small smile, understanding that he didn't recognised me.
"Of course! It took most of the night, and I am pleased to say that I think I got the perfect thing for you." He assured before he turned around and went through some of his belongings before taking out a small wooden box from which he pulled out the bracelet.
It was far better than I could imagine. It was indeed made out of gold, with the rubies lodged all around it with one double the size of the other at the centre, almost looking like they had been melted into the gold and then pulled back out. But what was far more impressive was something that I didn't remembered drawing on the small sketch I made for him. A series of dragons had been carved into the gold, with claws and wings surrounding the rubies as if they were protecting them and the largest ruby was standing in the centre of a dragon's mouth opened wide, reflecting the fire that would be coming out if it was alive.
"It's wonderful." I managed to say in awe, grabbing the bracelet to look at it closer.
"I'm very happy to hear this mam. I hope you won't mind the added details, I noted that you asked about dragons in your request and took the liberty to include some on it." He explained.
"If I mind? This is perfect, I'm sure Alexstrasza will love it!" I replied sincerely.
"Alexstrasza? Isn't she the dragon queen or something?" He asked suddenly very interested.
I realised my mistake too late but I was too happy to care at this moment.
"Yes she is. This will make the perfect present for her." I said.
"You honour me, my Lady, to know that my products are satisfactory enough for one such as her." He said with a short bow of the head.
"Now onto the big question, what's the price?" I asked with a joking tone.
"I believe I said seventy to eighty gold yesterday, not knowing which rubies to include nor the final product. With the addition of the carvings, I think a hundred coins should be a fair price." He told me, pointing at the bracelet's finest details.
I could only agree with this, and even if it was a lot of money I still had far more to spare plus it was an investment I was very happy to make. Plunging my hand into my extended bag, I pulled out a first handful of coins, then a second, a third and finally a fourth, counting every coin for a few seconds and then pulling a fifth handful to have the right amount.
"There, that should do it." I said handing him everything.
"Thank you very much, my Lady. It is an honour for me to prove my worth to a queen." He replied as he put the coins in his secured chest.
"I might come back for more someday, thanks a lot for making this one so fast." I gratefully said as I placed the bracelet back in his box and then put it in my bag.
"As I said, it was an honour. I hope to see you again soon." He bowed again.
"Have a nice day." I wished him before walking away from his stand.
I didn't had to look at the bracelet again to know that this was a work of art, probably worth thousands of galleons back on Earth where it only costed a hundred golden coins here. I didn't know how it could be explained, perhaps gold and rubies were more common here? It didn't mattered in the end, it would be the perfect gift and I would give it to mother the next time I would see her. Going to see her now crossed my mind, but I didn't wanted to return so soon, it would feel like I only left for a couple of days. No doubt that she would be happy to see me again, and so would I, but it simply wasn't the time yet.
Just knowing that I had the bracelet with me lifted my mood so high that I forgot for a moment about all my worries and made my way out of the market. I looked up a bit and noticed the spire of what was obviously a cathedral standing high above the town, feeling like I could go for some exploration just like I had planned before being caught up in the Alliance's problems.