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Chapter 29: A Gift from Kael'thas

Hold up. Wait a second. 'Like family?' Did I really just go there? How danged charming are these Blood Elves, these so-called Knights of the Blood Nexus, that I nearly almost forgot they broke my freakin' legs!

Those old hocks of mine are all healed now, by the way. At least one thing those pesky Blood Elves were finally good for. In fact, I could probably do a dance or to that I could never do before, heh. But still. Do not like. Blood Knights. Period.

Faltheriel and his guards were marching me over to King Kael'thas' royal office, I had thought. However, the way we were going upstairs was starting to look pretty familiar. At last, we went through a pair of gilded doors that almost immediately had me sweating and I had to blink back the new stress and anxiety that just flooded through my body on instinct. I knew those doors. We were headed back toward my old bedroom. You know, the one that Kael'thas set up for me, sharing a wall with his own royal apartments? And Saturna's?

What was this blonde nut up to now?

Next, the pong of strong disinfectant made me sneeze. Faltheriel looked over his shoulder at me and we stopped. My eyes were burning when I tried to look through the opened doors to my old guest room. Some alchemist from hell had a grand time in there for sure, wiping everything down with a concoction that surely removed every smudge, bead of sweat, or little hair or scrap of fur I might have left behind in that room. The old Turaho torture chamber, that is, before the Blood Knights introduced me to a new one in the Sunthraze house. That old bedroom of mine was now squeaky clean. Painfully bright. Only Kael'thas could have ordered such an insulting cleaning job. Well then. A certain someone was grateful that I was out of the palace. Someone royally obnoxious.

But then, Kael'thas didn't know I was coming over to see it, did he? No, that wasn't possible. It just seemed he liked to get secret revenge on people, to amuse himself.

"…Jackass."

"What was that, Investigator Runestalker—"

I spoke over King Kael'thas' lapdog when I knew exactly where this little rebuff was going and I didn't care. "I said that your king is a jackass."

Faltheriel narrowed eyes at me. Didn't say anymore. He pointed, and the frustrated guards took me into a sitting room across the hall I never noticed before. To compare, the air in that room didn't burn my lungs. In case you needed proof that I wasn't exaggerating at Kael'thas' revenge cleaning order.

They left me alone in there, no doubt standing shoulder to shoulder to block the door if I thought I might try to sneak back out anyway. As if I had any choice. If Kael'thas wanted to see me, in his own castle, after I ruined his Winter's Veil party, then I couldn't exactly go grinch on him and peace out back to Mulgore. Oh, but I wish! I even wished for Alessandre's ability to shadowmeld at that moment. Then maybe when they opened the doors again and assume I had escaped. Only a little thing to wait and then walk out free as a bird on my own after they were gone.

My mind raced with all my options at this point in the investigation. I took the opportunity to think back clearly through it all and make myself ready. Kael'thas wanted to talk to me, but I definitely didn't want to talk to him again. I had this feeling he was the type to see it in my eyes, that I now knew he wasn't the kidnapper. At least not with his own hands. Just like I could tell a liar right off. Kael'thas and I were both experienced with sussing out deceptions.

Kael'thas had survived by the sword, as they say, back in Outland dealing with Illidan, who was a master deceiver. Speaking of, Illidan had been a red herring in all this, really. Illidan had been linked up with things, but just not in the way I had assumed. Illidan was mainly involved because Kael'thas was and those two were soul-linked. But Illidan had at least confirmed for me that the Kaldorei Rogue Network was involved in a big way. Illidan helped me see that Alessandre was still alive. In a way, Illidan enabled me to take Al's word for truth when Al finally explained about the world tree Teldrassil, and that it had… oh, I hate this word… that their world tree had some kind of magical cancer that only one person was able to heal. If that was even possible.

The man able to heal such a grievous malady in a world tree of all things, it wasn't Greatfather Winter. No, Al had made that clear. I did wonder if it was just a shoddy way at throwing me off the scent, but that would have been too much extra effort for Al, and served no real purpose. We both really wanted to find Greatfather Winter and, Al could trust me to do that. And, Al never did any shoddy work. I could tell that by now. It wasn't his style to just throw out pocket sand or something and ditch any aspect of his missions.

So who else would be powerful enough to heal that world tree? It was someone that Greatfather Winter knew too, and maybe even liked. Because Greatfather Winter also didn't strike me as someone who would deal half-way. He wouldn't help someone he thought didn't deserve it. That was his whole code. I had to get a list of folks that Greatfather Winter would know—oh and then Al also said that, whoever this big person was, this big powerful person who could heal their world tree, that Greatfather Winter also liked? This big powerful person had pretty much the same ailment as that tree. This big save-the-day guy was sick with a brutal magical illness as well, and it was slowly killing them.

Gods—so who the heck could that be? Khadgar? Jaina Proudmoore? Longshot, but Jaina is powerful and very dark these days. You know what I mean, depressed. Worse. Of course she's entitled, after what she's lost in her life. Her father and her kingdom, maybe twice if you count Theramore and losing face back home in Kul Tiras. But if she was secretly ill, was she able to heal a whole world tree by herself?

No, no… this was a magical malady. A disease a world tree would have. How could a mere person, even a powerful magician sort of person, have the same disease as an entity like a world tree? They'd have to be a… a wild god, or an old god, or a titan or… Azeroth herself? No, the Speaker Magni would have told us all about it by now. 'Champion! Her wooons…' Ugh, that guy. I think we all knew about Azeroth's 'woooons' by now and this particular one wasn't on the list last time I checked. About everything else was wrong with our titan world-soul Azeroth, or whatever it was, but not this.

So, then. The one who Kael'thas was really afraid of, the whole reason behind Greatfather Winter being kidnapped in the first place, would be a god-like creature with a god-like disease. Of all the critters big and small in creation, what in tarnation could possibly be left that I hadn't thought of? Someone… lightforged? Uh… Velen? No, he's a mortal man. But I had this feeling my mind hadn't stretched too far. I was going in the right direction with that. Someone with great healing power. The Light was the greatest restorative power anyone knew of. And it was obvious enough to Blood Elves as well as the Night Elves who had lain all their hopes and dreams at this god-like Light person's feet. On one side, we had the Knights of the Blood Nexus, the Blood Elves trying to stop the Night Elves from getting any advantage whatsoever. If Teldrassil failed, that would ultimately benefit Orgrimmar and the Horde. On the other side, the Kaldorei Rogue Network which Alessandre headed up was understandably horrified that Silvermoon would meddle that far and let's say, 'enable' the death of their world tree.

Saturna was right when she kept saying I didn't know how far this went. Empires were at stake.

Knowing the full details of why Greatfather Winter had been captured would help me finally figure out who was actually tasked with doing the dirty kidnapping deed. Was it the entire Blood Elf royal court? The whole administration? I needed to know how far it reached. I didn't want to nab Kael'thas and leave his chief advisor Faltheriel to still rally the whole sordid network and get Kael'thas back installed into power, for example.

Kael'thas had certainly ordered up the kidnapping in my opinion, but the henchman who finally did it needed to be punished openly, along with Kael'thas, for the Horde and Alliance to see. I wanted more than just Kael'thas' head on a platter. I never said—maybe Alessandre had guessed by now, maybe he hadn't—but my real goal was to get a Garrosh-style war crimes trial set up by the end of this. I was being meticulous enough to dismantle the entire Silvermoon government and re-organize it. I had seen so much corruption, so much disgusting abuse of power and people coming from Kael'thas. And I knew that this would be a way to finally take out the Silvermoon monarchy. Kael'thas was a king willing to burn another man alive, a Night Elf man, in a time of peace for Azeroth. So-called peace anyway. Kael'thas was a king who wanted to kill a world tree. That's insidious, in any era.

Alessandre had made a dark joke, that Sylvanas might burn down that old tree for fun if she knew about the tree's disease, say she was doing the Night Elves a favor. Well, I was following breadcrumbs to solid proof that Kael'thas had orchestrated the entire thing, out of spite. Out of greed. Because it would be a tactical advantage 'for the Horde', that's how he'd put it. He realized Greatfather Winter was the key, so he ordered him kidnapped. But this one man, King Kael'thas Sunstrider, he didn't speak for the whole Horde. And what Kael'thas was trying to do, with his Blood Knight minions, it was unspeakable. It amounted to genocide. I could never let something like that just fly below my gaze as a Pathfinder. Well, not even as a Paladin, a Sunwalker.

Yes, Blood Knights were so different from Paladins. Just as Saturna said. Just as Al had said, hadn't he? It was starting to make me physically sick. Or, was that the fruitcake?

"Sir? Would you, um, like something? For your stomach, I mean."

I looked up, astounded. I didn't know the voice, but it was kind enough though. Some palace servant? But that wasn't the problem. I'd been seated in there for like thirty minutes or so, just lost in thought, and I hadn't been alone? What the—and the guards had put me in here with him? It had to be some kind of trap. Or, maybe, possibly, both the palace guards and me, we were slipping.

"It is the fruitcake, isn't it? It's never good anywhere, not even at a fancy do like the ones we have in Silvermoon." The man smiled in an almost genuine way. Not that this Blood Elf palace servant with dark hair and in a nice red-and-gold vest didn't care. Maybe not about me personally, he didn't know me. But he did care about his job. This was a trusted servant. I decided right away he must be some plant of Kael'thas'.

He had a young face, and maybe he even was young by elven standards. Was this a secret Knight of the Blood Nexus I hadn't met yet, doing undercover work?

I looked down at myself. I had put on my best leathers and beads for dinner back at Dar'kah's with my mom and Mey. The best part of my last twenty-four hours had been that wonderful dinner at Belorim Sunstrider's place. An estate.

Thinking of that now, I was actually getting the same vibe from this guy. You know, like he could have worked over there as well as here? Like all the palace staff working with the royals were trained in the same place, told to have the same, 'I won't shit you about how I really feel but I'm going to be helpful and pleasant because I take pride in my job' demeanor. I just had this gut feeling this guy had gone through a great deal of training. Or was good at acting like it. I guess. I needed to read him some more.

I kept my tone even, like maybe I did believe him, or at least I might fall for it. "I think it might be indigestion, yes. I hate to say it."

He could assume I really was ailing and off my game, then. If he was a spy. Sorry, I have to think in layers.

"Call me Jaeden, everyone else does. Let's see, on a night like tonight, I always have some powders and smelling salts in my cart here."

Jaeden bent down and disappeared behind a couch. No wonder I hadn't seen him before. A little guy like that could be bent over cleaning and I'd never notice him. I tried to spy for his service cart. I did see it after a while. It was a fancy silver thing that looked like it could have been used to serve drinks. Several unfamiliar, but nice-looking vials were set on top, with glass stoppers in each. A towel, maybe a feather duster—fancier than I had ever seen before, were hanging from hooks on the side.

No wonder I'd missed him! I wiped a hand down my face, exhausted with Silvermoon and everything she stood for. "For the love of Mu'usha. That fancy thing passes as a damned cleaning cart around here?"

Jaeden genuinely hadn't heard me. "…They always expect us to be ready for everything. Where did I put that—" He rummaged through all sorts of little drawers. And I could hear the clink of little keys unlocking them all. He really was a seasoned servant. Also, I can't explain how I was sure, but I felt him using magic, somehow, to open up other parts of his cart? There was this dull yawn in the air or something. I'd experienced that sensation a few times before when doors were unlocked magically or swung open on their own around the palace. I guess I was getting used to the Elves, in a way.

"Damned thing. It almost looks like my cleaning powder, for removing magical residue? You can't see spells after they're gone, not really, but some very clever people can, including our king. I have enough in here to clean up a crime scene!"

"Oh? Have you ever?"

"I don't think so. I hope not, I've never ever asked. That would be unprofessional, and honey, way above my pay grade!"

Okay. So this guy was telling on himself even if he was a spy. Typical bloke who hated his job a healthy amount but was glad to just get on with it and get home at the end of the day. Sounded like me up in Mulgore before all this mess happened, happy to put my hocks up and at least enjoy some danged oatmeal. I let out a good-natured laugh. No, this Jaeden wasn't a spy at all.

Jaeden was still talking, "Ugh, and you wouldn't believe how hard I worked on the room across the way. The one across the hall? I know you must have seen it. That almost broke my back."

"That masterpiece! I was impressed. You do that last minute then, while they were all down at the party?"

"This here happens to be one of the royal family's favorite sitting rooms. Princess Anthene herself might even be up here later with um, one of her friends. But only if all the other good spots are taken. So I have to clean it, I must. I mean," He actually waggled his dark eyebrows, "Nobody likes to be up against the wall with daddy dearest on the other side, who enjoys burning his victims alive in the middle of Mulgore if he has to, but who's counting? A girl, even a princess, needs her cake slice like the rest of us."

"Wait, how did you know about that?"

"Well! I thought you knew? The whole palace is alive with every bit of detail about what happened in Mulgore. People can't stop talking about you, Kael'thas' Tauren. There was a fire, right? And some Night Elf spy was caught in it?"

But who the heck would tell them all of that? And who could actually see through the flames, like I hardly was able to on that day, in order to know who it was that burned? Well, it's possible that gossip came from the Bluffwatchers and arrived in the palace this very night. Plenty of new Horde dignitaries were in town for the holiday party. Or, maybe the Knights of the Blood Nexus weren't so good at keeping their own intel a secret? Not likely, since they'd ably run me around in circles for this long. A small, hateful part of me wondered if Kael'thas himself would spread that rumor, to cover his arse. Especially if he learned that Al was still alive, in peak form at that, vengeful and walking around his very kingdom. Kael'thas would have wanted to keep the threat alive and well, and possibly embarrass the shit out of Al if he tried to complain to someone about it.

I just have to tell you, I think that was it. Kael'thas had got ontop of his own gossip mill.

Though, it does also make you really wonder what Kael'thas would do to Al later whenever he found out his precious daughter and this same Night Elf were busy having an affair. And really next door, according to Jaeden.

"Well, Jaeden. It was hard to watch, I'll say that. Tell me, did they really have you cleaning all these rooms in the middle of the party? Don't you servants get a chance to celebrate the holiday on your own time? I'd just hate it."

"Oh. Well, this extra cleaning job is what held me up. And then they wanted me downstairs helping with the food service. That is definitely not my job. But that Emril lied and said he was sick—well, anyway. I can mix this in a drink for you, if you want? I promise nobody's put me up to it! How wonderful, how exciting! I guess that's what a clever investigator like you must be thinking, right? That I'd… uh… how do they put it? 'Slip you a mickey!' That's it. No, this is just digestive powder."

I'd been drugged once on this journey, back at Sunthraze's house. I was afraid of falling for it again. But I had already decided to go all in with this guy anyway. I might as well take his medicine. If I got sick, I'd know he was lying, right? And, anyway, my stomach really was bugging me at this point.

I nodded and let Jaeden fix me a cocktail with holiday mint, some rum, and his digestive powder.

"Hoo boy."

"Oh, don't worry at all! I'm great at making these. A little holiday cheer with your medicine. It's the top of the tops for all the guests who come here to the Sunspire. Even your little tummy tonic is a fine treat. Here you go, sir. Drink up."

It had a nice kick to it, if I'm honest. And it went down smooth. Sort of slow going down and cooling. Instantly, my stomach felt soothed. Was that peppermint?

"I think I'll have another. I'm a big guy, anyway."

He blinked at me, but then slipped into a relieved smile. "Oh of course, right away, sir. I was going to say at first—you know, too many and you end up under the host? But you're right. You'd need a little more, being a big strong Tauren. Perhaps cinnamon this this time? That mix is warming, sort of cozy."

Yeah, one of Saturna's mooks could never be this easy, pleasant, and delightful. The final proof. I could take a nice bite out of this man and he'd taste just like milk chocolate, I knew it. I was in safe hands.

"Oh! And I also have chocolate—"

"Don't make me marry you, already!" We both laughed together.

"Well, it's more of a hot chocolate feeling…" He kept chattering away pleasantly while I tried to think of what else I could get away with asking Jaeden, quick. This was just like the time I ended up with Faltheriel trapped in the carriage with me and I got away with murder asking him the best stuff. I wondered what was taking Kael'thas so long to have our so-called meeting, which would really just be manipulating me again into Phase Two or whatever. That man was so obvious to me now. I'd need popcorn while I watched this time. Maybe Jaeden even had some in his lovely mystery cart.

This room was adjacent to Kael'thas' room as well. It shared a wall with his, just like my old bedroom. For once, I was totally certain Kael'thas was over there. Both me and Jaeden perked up, hearing Kael'thas and his valet going over what he was wearing, whether it was the right color and fit, that kind of thing. Kael'thas is a friggin clothes horse, by the way! He had a spectrum of suits or robes chosen right? But it took his valet and a third man that got brought in, some kind of stylist—it was probably an artiste bald Nightborne guy from the accent. A Nightborne stylist who gestured dismissively a lot and kicked up that fancy shalassian accent a notch, whenever Kael'thas had his own ideas—the whole goal was to help him finally decide. But what was Kael'thas getting dressed up for? He already had his holiday party costume. Maybe there was a dinner that, of course, I hadn't known about or been invited to.

Saturna was out helping Sylvanas Windrunner not have a meltdown, right? The two of them chasing me rampaging away across the Ghostlands in my ghost wolf form, except I wasn't out there. I was here. And Kael'thas also did not conveniently recall his wife, nor Sylvanas, with news of this. Another big ding-dong holiday bell that Kael'thas was revving up for his most massive lie yet. This one was bound to be the biggie. The one he assumed would fix everything.

I got right to it, then. I needed my own ammo.

"So tell me, Kael'thas and Saturna don't fight often, do they? I feel awful, like I upset the whole household by even being up here, while I was nextdoor. And you having to clean up after me and all, last minute."

His eyes lit up with new gossip. "Just before the party, actually. They got into a huge fight about this crown, a tiara that Saturna wanted to wear. But Kael'thas found it inappropriate."

"Inappropriate how. That's odd, isn't what the queen wears her own prerogative?"

"Being honest? I felt Kael'thas was reaching a bit. I was thinking the same, why make a thing of it? I'm sure he felt it clashed with his own outfit."

"Hrm…"

"But as far as cleaning rooms, this is pretty usual. We ensure all the rooms are ready to use on a big night like this. You never know who will have a guest, or who might be staying over. For many reasons, not just romantic ones." He blushed and winked at me.

Was he also flirting? Should I use that? Would I get a coal in my stocking if I did? I decided go more slowly rather than give this guy the wrong idea. I don't think I could run that many games at once, ontop of what I was already dealing with.

I patted my belly, got comfortable in the chair. "But I mean, Mr. Jaeden, things must have been more quiet and settled a few weeks ago. Around when they say Greatfather Winter disappeared?"

"Oh they were arguing then, too. My, was it loud."

How to press for more, without making it obvious to this guy that he had slipped up, was about to betray king and country?

"Oh nooo, but they seem so close. Aww."

Oh gods, was I lying so hard right then! Like I ever cared!

"Well it wasn't Saturna. It was his succubus! We all heard the hooves stamping on the floor."

I… what?

"Kael'thas was yelling and she was snarling and all that. The queen does not sound like that, obviously."

"So." So what? So Kael'thas has his succubus alone in his bedroom sometimes? So they have normal chats in the evenings that are less weird? What the hell was going on now? I settled on, "Soooo…" Yeah, I got nothing.

"Mhrm! He was asking her what was wrong with her, and that she did it without his permission. Something like he would never allow her to do something like that. He was furious. Kinky, huh? Their window was left open, that's how we heard it, sort of, from the other rooms. Plenty of the other servants heard it."

I got shifty-eyed. In fact, I decided this was too much information for me, that Kael'thas was fooling around with his succubus one night and she broke their little safe word or something and a dirty, fun time turned out to be a painful one that he was so angry about, he'd yell and wake up his sleeping wife over it. Blech.

Jaeden cleared his throat. "He's a very kinky warlock. I'll just… leave it at that. And she knows, too. Saturna doesn't mind. In fact, sometimes she thinks it's fun to join in—"

"No. No more. No thank you."

I needed bleach for my brain.

The doors opened. The guards peered with surprise at the cleaning man, and watched Jaeden gaily wave to me and wheel out his shiny cart.

One of the palace guards came in and ordered me up on my feet. He went, "How'd you get him in here with you?"

"Um. Tauren magic?"

"Get your ass up and let's go. Fool."

Well, I thought it was a good joke. And then, at the head of the hall, the big doors opened and they showed me in to Kael'thas' bedroom. I wasn't feeling well, I didn't have enough sense right away not to look for my seed bead wedged in the floorboards. Tempest had found out about it before and she went crazy. What if she had already reported it to Kael'thas? I was spooked all of a sudden that Kael'thas now knew and that was what this was about.

Kael'thas spun around, looking too.

Shit!

He asked me, "Did I drop something?"

I deflected, "Why are you dressed head-to-toe in gold?"

"Oh no, should I not have gone with the gold? I look like a giant statue, like the ones in the city don't I?" Kael'thas fretted.

Three men went wide-eyed at me, furious. His valet, the Nightborne artiste—oh hey! I was right, he was modern and bald-looking. Well, mostly bald. It was some expensive haircut that was mostly shorn off. The third guy was Chief Advisor Faltheriel, hanging on.

"And I wonder what your Nightborne fashion… advisor thinks about the queen's tiara tonight? I heard there was a huge to-do about it. But I thought she looked very lovely in what she chose."

I said that as if I knew it was a much bigger thing than it was. But I was just pretending. It was most likely a throw-away little detail. But I decided to try it anyway, see if Kael'thas reacted. Might be fun to see him jump.

Kael'thas was astounded to hear me comment on that. And then, the smallest tinge of fear. He couldn't hide it.

I paced around Kael'thas, "Interesting…"

Kael'thas gestured for the other men to move on and leave us be. I thought the Nightborne especially was going to kill me with his steely gaze as he went past. Then, the fancy doors closed.

Kael'thas exhaled to calm himself, but then donned this evil grin. He folded hands behind his back.

"Turaho. I realize that you probably just said that to annoy me."

"About Saturna's crown?"

He exhaled nervously, I didn't miss it. Interesting, indeed. Pull a thread and you never know what might unravel in a case like this.

Then, Kael'thas shook his head. "About this gold suit. You do not actually possess more fashion acuité than my marchande de modes Alistaire Longchamp, fresh from the very scene in Suramar."

I just… I blinked at this man. And I wished Kael'thas dead very, very hard. And buried in a cheap suit.

Kael'thas finished winking at his very clever use of shalassian just then.

"Okay so. My stomach still hurts, it's been a rough few days, and I'd just to like sleep so I can contemplate your doom some more tomorrow, Kael'thas. And I warn you, I'm onto a breakthrough in this case so if I were you, I wouldn't give me a hard time—"

He cut me off. "Your fiancée. Is at a cultist camp. In the Ghostlands."

It took me a moment. I was trying to work through what he said, that Kael'thas wasn't shitting me around in shalassian again, showing off.

"That is, Investigator Meydiri has gone to the Twilight Cultists. She is with them, now, in their camp, summoning something at a convergence of powerful leylines. The silent alarms here at the palace went off. Magister Rommath himself brought the news to me. He's back at the sanctum now, awaiting my orders."

"What… I…"

"So now you have a few options, Turaho. You can give me leave to arrest the treacherous bitch for being a cultist. Or, I can have Rommath intercept the spell and let them summon me instead—something I'd really enjoy. I find recently that I have a taste for roasting people alive in the wilderness and leaving no, or very few witnesses. Or, I guess if there's no more of your Tauren cronies to go and save her…" Kael'thas pouted with indecision and shrugged one shoulder in glossy gold suit-jacket. "We can just let Warchief Sylvanas have at it, send her one of the old arcane Farstrider signals. The one that tells everyone exactly where the traitor is and declares war over their head. Sylvanas would enjoy that. She's already out there, thirsting for Tauren blood anyway."

I was frozen solid. I kept telling myself it was a trap. But no, this was real. And I hated that it made so much sense. Meydiri should have been around all evening, she should have been with me, in fact. What else would keep her away? Unless she found the kidnapper.

"Who are they summoning? Why?"

I dunno, I figured if Kael'thas couldn't answer that, then maybe I'd catch him in a lie and his accusation would crumble apart. I hoped to Mu'usha above that some part of this horrible news was a lie.

"Who are they summoning? Well, who do you think? Did you honestly believe that your woman, the obvious Twilight Cultist, wasn't investigating Greatfather Winter's disappearance for her own reasons? He is a very powerful man, Greatfather Winter. Practically an old god. The Twilight Hammer Cult adores old gods, would do anything to get their hands on one, last I heard. Weren't you in Ashenvale? Weren't you assigned to Thousand Needles before, as a Pathfinder? Aren't you supposed to know about all of this, Turaho? You should be the one telling me."

Kael'thas paced around me and tossed something in his hand. A pair of cufflinks, I think. The little rubies flashed every time he tossed his palm up, so casually.

He then snatched them in the air, stopped, pulled open the gilded glass door. One smooth motion. "Anyway. I chose to tell you first Turaho, as a courtesy before I take any real action. Since you are still, technically, a guest in my kingdom. Even an unwanted guest is still a guest."

I turned around to face Kael'thas and his opened bedroom door. But I still felt nothing but panic, riveting me to the spot. What was this? And in a way, he was being so nice about it, though he was also being so sinister. Why was Kael'thas giving me a break? Should I ask something else to… to do what? And didn't I need backup? All those Horde officials downstairs… Meydiri would be in worse trouble, though, if I got the real Horde involved, right? But I couldn't think through anything fast enough.

Kael'thas arched a blonde eyebrow. "Turaho. Shouldn't you go and save the damsel, yourself?"

I looked Kael'thas in the eye, stepped close to him. I wanted to see him flinch. Kael'thas stared me down. In the end, I shoved him and hoofed it out of there.

Meydiri? How could this happen? This had to be some twisted joke.

Kael'thas called gingerly down the hallway, "Alistaire? I changed my mind, mon ami. Bring me the black regalia. I intend to dress for a funeral."

I never forgot Kael'thas said that. Like it was funny. Like Meydiri forfeiting her life in the eyes of the Horde was going to be a good time. And oh gods, where was Alessandre by now? He should have also contacted me since last night. If Alessandre was keeping an eye on things, if he knew... Al was KRN. An assassin sworn to destroy the Twilight Hammer Cult and anything else that threatened the Kaldorei homeland. If it turned out Meydiri was the one, that she was somehow behind all this? He'd kill her.

Oh, Meydiri! I prayed she hadn't gone too far this time, that there was some other way. I had to get there first.