Three months on and significant process had been made in the Alliance's campaign against the Lich King and his seemingly never ending army.

A good chunk of the army had broken away from Valiance Keep, moving instead to a recently cleared out Scourge base called Wintergarde Keep, nestled in the heart of Dragonblight.

Alexstrasza had conceded with Varian to let the Alliance set up a smaller garrison if they aided with the purge of Scourge forces occupying the ancient temple, and now it was a fortified Alliance base.

The next step would be storming the gate that led to Icecrown and starting the final ascent on the citadel, but in order to do that, the necropolis that had been moving ever closer towards them needed to be taken care of.

Varian's intel had told him that the floating fortress held none other than Kel'thuzad himself, so he and the other Alliance leaders had agreed that it was imperative to take it down not only to make the Lich King nervous by getting rid of one of his top generals, but to ensure that the Scourge population would come to a grinding halt with one of its liches dead and gone.

Naxxramas would be taken down by two regiments and to Varian's chagrin, Val's was included in that roster.

He'd not so subtly asked her day after day to reconsider and take a few convenient weeks leave, but had given up with her withering look and final snap of 'shut the fuck up Varian'.

She was up before him again, but she would never begrudge him the fact, since it meant whatever Lineker had put him on was clearly doing its job.

He'd only awoken in the night a few times since he'd come to Northrend, which compared to practically every night being spent on tenterhooks was a vast improvement. It was putting him in a mildly better humour, and she'd take that any day of the week.

She was saving him a job by attempting to finish the stack of letters to families that they had started last night and only gotten halfway through, which she supposed was just a statement of how many they'd lost during the nine months they'd been in this Light forsaken place.

Every day more ships were leaving Valiance Keep with piles of the dead on them to lay them to final rest, with reinforcements dwindling more every time Varian looked.

She looked over at the snoring King, sipping the water that had been freshly boiled an hour earlier for the multiple barrels outside and wondering if this whole thing would even be possible with their limited numbers.

If there was one thing she'd learned, it was that the Scourge were always hiding away an army somewhere ready to pull out of its pocket and overwhelm them.

She watched Varian turn over and rise like a bear just finishing its hibernation, a mix of low, chesty growls and a mess of hair hiding his features all the while he pushed himself up.

He swept his locks back, turning into a lion instead with the yawn that overtook his face and slowly melding back into her husband. He looked around, finally clocking her and giving her a sleepy smile that she'd only seen on Anduin until recently. "Mornin'."

Val couldn't help teasing him, signing off the latest letter. "I think you mean afternoon."

His brow furrowed. "Please tell me that's a joke?"

She nodded and let a snicker escape her lips at his annoyed look. "It's too early for your shit woman."

She took another sip of her water, staying helpfully quiet while he slid from their makeshift bed and pulled his robe from the trunk at the end of it. "This damn place is freezing."

Val wrinkled her nose, starting on the next one. "At least we're not in a tent anymore. Small blessings and all that."

Varian had no choice but to agree with her; the one big plus of Wintergarde already being built was that there were four walls ready for them to lodge in.

His large palms curled over her shoulders and he bent to kiss her cheek. "How are you feeling? Been sick again?"

Val gave him a smile, reaching back and scratching the bottom of his chin. "Varian, you know that stopped last week."

Varian clearly didn't care. "It's my job to make sure every soldier is fit and able Val- and if you're going to that damn necropolis I need to make sure you're not putting yourself in unnecessary danger."

His arms felt delightfully warm around her and it was making it all the more tempting to go back to bed. "Will you stop worrying? It was a small bug, nothing more Varian. I was cleared for duty, that's all that matters."

She tried not to squirm at the kisses down her cheeks, but while his body was warm, his face was not. "When will you actually let me worry about you for once in our lives?"

Val scrunched her nose. "Maybe when we're old and grey? The chance of breaking something goes up about seventy percent, so it'll be warranted."

He could taste the tea she'd had earlier in her kiss, putting her loose hair behind her ear when he pulled back. "Fair deal. Until then you'll just have to find me annoying."

He sighed, lifting the folded parchment sitting on top of the pile. "I swear, I'm writing more of these than I'm having hot dinners…"

Val pointed her quill to the one she'd been in the middle of when he'd woken up. "I thought I'd try and lighten the load for you, but for every one I do, two more appear."

She passed him a scroll that Shaw had delivered earlier with a less than happy look on her face. He took it, not saying a word until he'd broken the seal and skimmed it, sighing and rolling it back up. "Well, it looks like our days just been planned out."

Val's eyebrow rose. "'Our'? I wasn't aware that I was involved in the negotiations?"

Varian spooned some coffee that Minnie had helpfully sent over into a tin mug, ladelling the water that was still sitting on the fire into it and thanking her for the spoon she passed him.

"You're the High Queen, why wouldn't you be?"

Val could feel her gut shrivel as soon as he said it. "I'm never going to get used to you calling me that."

Varian's smile was small and sympathetic. "It takes a while, trust me. Sometimes I have to remind myself of just who I am nowadays."

Val shrugged, carrying on with her task. "You know I'll always just call you 'Varian'. That must be at least a little bit reassuring?"

Varian blew his drink, well aware that he risked burning his throat. "More than you will ever believe. As long as I have one person I can just be a normal man with I think I'll be able to get through the damn day."

Val still didn't look too sure about attending the meeting between him and Thrall. "I've not been coronated yet Varian, don't you think it's a tad inappropriate?"

Varian shook his head. "Thrall doesn't know that, and you'll be coronated soon enough, so it makes no difference."

His brows drew in. "If you don't want to go you can merely tell me, I shan't be offended."

Val shook her head, holding the wax over the flame to get it sticky again. "No, no, I'll come with you if that's what you want. From what Carson told me, we're not going to Naxxramas until tonight."

Varian made a noise of affirmation, putting the missive down and taking a tentative sip. "Yes, we're using what little cover the early nights give us to at least attempt a surprise attack. So we'll have time."

Val opened Thrall's letter to gauge it for herself. "He really didn't give you that much notice, did he?"

Varian seemed unfazed by the fact that they only had a couple of hours until the proposed time. "He's as eager as I am to get them out of the way and our assault arranged, that's all it is."

She put her quill down and linked her fingers together. "And you think this is still a good idea? Going to the Horde for help?"

Varian's lips twisted into a grimace. "Of course I don't. But my role as High King dictates that I do all I can to ensure the safety of those under my rule, and if we go to the Wrathgate with the men we have right now and nothing else…we'd be decimated."

Val tapped the side of her cup. "But with the Horde not attacking us when we eventually meet there…we have extra bodies."

Varian solemnly nodded. "Exactly. It sounds rather flippant but that's all I'm using the Horde for. I will never trust them completely, and I feel that Thrall knows that."

Val started chewing her bottom lip. "I don't suppose he's said anything regarding Garona?" She had expected him to stiffen as he did…and the shake of his head. "No, and to be honest, I don't think he will in case it sours things."

She knew from his tone to change the subject quickly, so she cleared her throat. "Will you be coming to Naxxramas with us?"

Varian shook his head, which she had to admit she had notbeen expecting. "No, I won't. I'll be holding the fort here and planning the assault on Wrathgate."

His jaw tensed. "I'll await your return with quiet worry."

Val snorted, taking another glug of water. "As quiet as an Elekk walking through a minefield, I should reckon."

Varian's eyebrow rose in amusement. "Don't be cheeky."

Val flexed her hand to get the feeling back into it, rubbing her eyes and telling him exactly what he didn't want to know. "How long have you been up?"

Val opened one eye, groping along the table until her fingers curled around her watch and she stared at it for a few seconds. "If I say too long how much of a bollocking will I get?"

Varian's jaw tensed. "I never thought I'd be the one chiding youabout sleep."

Val shrugged. "My stomach still felt funny, that's all, I was too distracted to sleep."

The lines on his forehead deepened. "But you weren't ill?"

She shook her head. "No. I think it's just the climate messing with everything. Give it a few weeks and I might adapt, you never know."

Varian sighed, kissing her temple. "The sooner this damn war is over the better."

Val gave him a small smile. "You won't hear any objections from me."

"Your Majesty? Are you awake?"

Varian straightened, wishing that his title didn't dictate how much privacy he received but gritting his teeth he gave Lee permission to enter regardless. "How goes the world today Lee?"

The young groom gave him a pained smile, putting a tray on the table once Val cleared it with two bowls of hot, honeyed oats sitting there just asking to be eaten. "No worse, yet certainly no better Your Majesty."

There was a stack of letters next to the bowls and Val had to laugh as her hand snapped over the top one a fraction of a second before Varian's did, sticking her tongue out at his scowl and ripping it open, reading Anduin's very wobbly yet somehow legible writing with the biggest of smiles on her face.

"Well? Come on woman, what does he say?"

Val pressed her lips together as tightly as she could, making Lee want to laugh despite how she was genuinely annoying Varian with her antics. "Val!"

She snickered, handing it to him and trying not to laugh harder as he practically snatched it. "He just says he's fine, misses us alot, lists all the friends and family he's seen and tells us that he and Alice are looking forward to the Midsummer Fire Festival."

Varian had a pain in his eyes that Val could completely understand, but his smile at the small doodle at the bottom of the letter of a rather round pastel Anduin waving to him told her that it wasn't going to affect his mood that much.

"He wasn't writing this well when we left."

Val left her seat to slide herself under his arm, putting her arms around his waist. "I know, but we knew that things would change without us Varian."

That didn't placate him in the slightest, but he appreciated the effort. "He's growing up without either of us there."

Val kissed his chest, putting her head there. "He's got our family around him, and that's the most we can ask."

Lee finished stoking the brazier, straightening after giving them a minute of quiet reflection on the matter. "I've been told we're to go to Dalaran today, Your Majesty?"

Varian slowly nodded, letting Val go so she could eat. Her appetite had returned and he was rather eager to let her indulge herself. "Aye, to meet Warchief Thrall and finalise arrangements for the assault on Wrathgate."

Lee looked as apprehensive as Val felt. "Are you sure this is the wisest decision, Your Majesty?"

Varian understood the hidden and understandable question of 'can we trust them?', squaring his shoulders and sitting down for his own meal.

"We will attend the talks with a certain amount of scepticism, you can rest assured of that. But Thrall has made a point to tell me that he has no further quarrel with the Alliance and only wishes to bring the Scourge threat to an end just as we do."

Val let the hot oats warm her throat, feeling it spread to the tips of her fingers. "We'll soon find out I suppose."

"Move out in ten minutes! Gear up and report to Captain Garside!"

Val was already on her way down the stone steps towards another section of the Keep that had been made into a more secure armoury, taking Carson's arm so she didn't fall arse over face. "Finally, some more bloody action. All that waiting was doing my head in."

Carson huffed at the redhead in front of them. "Shut up McGee, you're the first one going to that mead barrel when it's opened."

Val started to tie her hair up as they walked, trying to remember where the hells her stand was and letting the hulking Kul Tiran steer her by the shoulders.

"Just try and keep up Eastcroft."

Carson gave him a two fingered salute, clapping arms with Arin once the two of them got to him. He had joined the newly formed Gilnean brigade over the Stormwind Army, so he had been put in different lodgings to them. "Nice to see you'll be joining us Jammy."

Arin snickered, already passing Val's chainmail to her. "Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

Val exhaled, fixing her mail and sitting down to put her boots on. "You two joke, but Kel'thuzad was the arsehole who started this whole fucking mess in the first place, so he's not going to be easy to take down."

Carson helped her up after, shucking his gauntlets on and passing hers over. "And we have mages, priests, paladins and Light knows what else on our side; he won't have any idea what's coming to him."

Val slipped her breastplate over her head, having made the decision with Varian to switch back to her plate while they were at active war. "Car, strap me up please."

He gladly did it, stopping when she grimaced. "You put weight on?"

Val's brow was furrowed enough for her eyebrows to nearly touch her nose. "I must've done. I swear, Varian is a terrible influence."

Arin snorted as Carson put it on looser for her. "She's turning into a noble before our very fucking eyes Car."

Val shot him a glare, nodding when she was asked if it was comfortable. "Shut up Jammy."

Carson reached over to ruffle the Gilnean's hair. "Like you can talk anyway; we all saw you practically inhale that pie last night."

Arin thankfully wasn't offended by the accusation, if anything he found it quite funny. "Well I'm sorry dwarven cooking is bloody lovely."

Val snorted, clipping Stormfall to her belt. "Is it true that there's only tripe and trout in Gilneas?"

He shot her a light hearted glare. "Oh ha bloody ha. Look, our King may be a bit old fashioned, but the rest of Gilneas isn't thank you."

Carson shrugged his large shoulders, bending so Val could strap his pauldrons onto them. "I'm still shocked Gilneas is even standing, so forgive us if we're a little ignorant."

Val swatted his bare shoulder with a chiding glance."Car, shut up."

Val gave Arin a small smile. "It must be nice being among people you know again?"

Arin's pained smile told her all it needed to. "It's nice to be considered a Stormish, you know this Val, but to have my own Prince lead my people into battle is an honour I don't take lightly."

Val gave him a quick squeeze. "You're still one of us though, you have no choice in that matter."

Arin passed her helm to her and the three of them joined the others back outside, hunching over as a biting wind started up in the main square and Varian raised both hands to quiet them.

"This is to be a quick mission, with regiment three starting in the north side of the necropolis and regiment two in the south."

He let Lee light a crystal and put the image of the structure above their heads. The mage that was with Varian flicked his wrist and two large dots appeared, which Val could only assume represented them.

"You'll clear the two wings on either side of the entrances, to re-converge in the main chamber, where my scouts tell me Kel'thuzad is hiding. Once he is dealt with, go back to your original points and teleport back here. Is that understood?"

Val joined in with the rather cleverly subdued 'Yes Your Majesty' and embraced Arin, who would be joining regiment with the rest of the Gilnean Brigade.

"Good luck Jammy, see you on the other side."

Arin gave them a stiff wave, letting Carson hold Val's shoulder and guide her to the mage designated to their regiment. Varian caught her arm just before they got there and bent down for a brief kiss, squeezing her hand after sliding his down to hold it. "Good luck, Sweetheart."

Val gave him the smallest of smiles, anxious of the fact that she had to get going. "Don't worry yourself too much, alright?"

One more kiss, this time on the back of her hand. "You know I will. Go, before I change my mind."

She knew he didn't mean it, he never did, and he watched as she ran off to join Carson, who gave him a stiff, knowing nod, which Varian greatly appreciated.

Naxxramas was cold and dark when they got there, and Val was glad that they'd actually managed to get their way to Kel'thuzad easily enough; though she was more than certain that the things she'd seen in the halls of this twisted place would stay with her for quite a while after they left Northrend, which was always something to look forward to.

After clearing the hallways they'd all regrouped and let the mages with them transport them straight to the Lich's chamber, materialising right in front of the skeletal monster and alerting every single thing in that room to their presence.

Val and Carson were part of the group going straight for the Lich, but of course the bastard had anticipated the attack and encased them in a putrid bubble of dark magic once they reached the main plateau.

Syverson tested it and found that while they couldn't get out, things could still get in, so the flood of Scourge that had been kept to the side hallways all came charging in a stampede of rotting flesh and flailing weapons.

"Hold steady, shield formation!"

Val was getting flashbacks of Hillsbrad as shields slammed down and her vision was blocked by steel. She braced herself but it did nothing to keep her feet planted enough when they hit, jolting her backwards and winding her far easier than it should've.

Once the Scourge were pushed back a decent distance, Syverson called out the order to engage, but Carson was more concerned with the deep breaths Val was taking, holding her shoulder and keeping his shield up with the other arm. "You alright?"

Val finally caught her breath and nodded, straightening and flexing her fingers on the handle of her hammer. "I'm fine, just a little out of shape, that's all."

Carson shield bashed a ghoul scurrying towards them, letting Val take out its legs and surge forward with the rest of them.

They were covered in gunk, sinew and Light knew what else when the bubble finally dissipated, but while Kel'thuzad was vulnerable to attack, he didn't show any sign of worry on his bony face, instead he flicked a wrist and the room was drenched in a cold, bone shivering aura, making them all freeze in the spot against their wills.

They watched as collective flesh of the undead that they'd already taken care of slid along the floor and congealed into a large pile of pus, moulding and changing until it had all melded together into an abomination twice the size of any Val had seen in her nine months fighting the Scourge.

Syverson was clearly perturbed by it, ignoring the Lich's taunts as they were freed from their own limbs and the hulking monstrosity lurched towards them, shaking the floor with each squelching step and making those around her that clearly thought it would do anything start praying to the Light.

Syverson shouted orders to get out of the way and Val didn't waste a second obeying them, feeling the skin leave her arm as she hit the stone underfoot. Between Kel'thuzad's dark magic firing at them from seemingly all sides and the large limbs of the abomination coming towards them, Val was wondering how the hells they were going to pull this one off.

Already Alliance soldiers were thrown into the walls with sickening crunches, or ripped apart with magic. They couldn't get close enough to hit either of them, spending precious time ducking and rolling to avoid suffering the same fate.

Syverson signalled to the group Val was in, pointing to the things legs and somehow telling them with minimum effort to focus on them. Carson took charge, telling some to circle around while he, Val, Arin and a few others would go straight for it.

She started running the second he said go, clipping her hammer back to her belt and drawing her sword instead, watching Carson instruct her to go up and leaping from one foot, sinking her blade in the decaying thigh of the creature and hanging on with everything she had.

Carson got the ankle and the others spread like lice along the powerful limb, piercing blindly and driving their weapons as deep as they could until it finally toppled forward. With it subdued, the mages had a chance to rip it apart as Kel'thuzad had done with many of their own, leaving just the Lich.

The battle plan was finally back on track and the Draenei that had come with them strategically placed themselves around the room, with the other soldiers regrouping in the centre of the chamber to draw the Lich to them.

Syverson raised a hand once Kel'thuzad was right where they wanted him, and finally, three hours of hard battle paid off, with streams of pure Light firing themselves at him and making the Scourge General crumple enough to let Syverson give the order to charge.

It was over in a flash.

Kel'thuzad lay dying on the floor with his bones disintegrating in front of their eyes. The celebration of course started up once he'd turned into nothing but a pile of bone powder and robes, but they quickly ceased when the structure around them shook violently, with rubble and debris pouring from the ceiling.

"GET TO THE PORTALS!"

None of them needed telling twice, with Carson practically pulling her as she held on to Arin's hand and melded with the flood of retreating Alliance men, women, Dwarf and Draenei, all making a hurried run for it towards the few mages waiting by the entrance to Naxxramas to send them back once the job had been done.

Val felt her footing leave her as the necropolis tilted, with those who could in time holding on to whatever they could and feeling it move like it was…falling.

"Your Majesty, you're urgently needed on the north battlement!"

Varian looked up from the war table with instant worry. "What's wrong?" He'd barely finished speaking before following the panicked guardsman, hearing the murmur of activity and finding everyone gathered by the gate. A few shouts of 'Make way!' got Varian through and he sprinted up the stairs to the top of the wall, feeling the blood rush from his face with what he was met with.

All he could hear was the groan of stone creaking against stone and he watched as if he were in slow motion. He grabbed the brick in front of him and finding it hard to keep himself up as he and all those in Wintergarde Keep watched Naxxramas collide with the mountain lying to its left. There was an air of horror as it smashed like a hammer to ice and crumbled apart as it embedded itself in the rock, sending a shower of snow and stone into the ground below.

He turned at the sound of magic behind him, finding an influx of soldiers suddenly appearing and making his muddled brain realise they'd come from the necropolis.

His feet barely touched the stairwell as he flew down them once more, pushing through the crowd and frantically looking into the mass of bodies and wounded, trying to find any sign of Val and failing miserably. "Val?"

He didn't even care that he was supposed to be the King and nothing more in a situation like this, but the panic pooling into his chest made everything in him forget that, wading deeper into the throng and ignoring those who greeted him, merely shouting his wife's name into the rabble and wandering wildly in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of her. He didn't even care if she was hurt, she just had to be here…

And finally, a voice called him, but not the one he wanted. His ears honed in on the Gilnean accent, finding the dark haired man it belonged to and barrelling towards him, falling to his knees when he found him alone and wounded.

"Where's Val? Arin, was she with you?!"

He meekly nodded, holding his side and showing Varian the blood pouring down his fingers. "Where is she? Did she make it out?"

A shake of the head made Varian's lungs shrink and contract in on themselves, letting spots dance in front of his eyes and his hands tremble. "Wa…was she alive?"

Arin was slipping in and out of conciousness, and Varian slapping his cheek wasn't helping in the slightest. "Was she alive?! Arin! Speak damn you!"

He didn't mean to shake the young Gilnean hard enough for his head to start flopping, but Varian was starting to sink into the hole of panic that was forming in his chest.

"Varian, that's nae gonna help anyone!"

Magni's powerful palm on his shoulder was barely a whisper for Varian, and he only took notice when he was yanked backwards. "He didn't fucking answer me!"

Magni gestured to Arin's limp form. "Aye, because he's on death's door! He'll be nae good ta anyone, much less Val, unless we get 'im seen ta. Calm yourself and think lad!"

Varian couldn't, and that scared him almost as much as the growing possibility that…no, he couldn't even contemplate it, it was too distressing. "I don't even know if she's alive…"

Magni patted his back, heaving him to his feet and letting the priests take Arin away on a stretcher. "Come lad, the leaders be amassing. We'll get ta whomever is left in that Lightforsaken rock, ah promise yeh. But we need a plan."

Varian's breathing was harsh and jagged, with his arms trembling like Anduin's did when there was a thunderstorm. "Plan…yes, a plan…"

He looked back up a the crashed necropolis, watching wretched green smoke coming from the mangled building and feeling his stomach start to churn. "I can't lose her Magni…"

The dwarven king had sympathy in his eyes. "Ah know Laddie, but we cannae go chargin in without making it more dangerous. Come wit me, we'll see wha the others have ta say."

Varian slowly nodded, letting the older monarch lead him to the Alliance tent, never taking his eyes off the burning wreckage, saying a prayer for the first time in Light knew how long.