An entire week would pass before the other monarchs and lords of the kingdoms scattered across Azeroth would converge.

But that wasn't at the forefront of Varian's mind, not today. No, what he was more concerned about was what the physicians were going to tell him once they arrived later on and removed the bandages both from his eye, and Val's back.

It felt incredibly daunting, knowing that one man held the power to tell Varian whether he'd ever see again or not, and although he'd never admit it out loud, it made Varian want to not go through the process at all.

It was frustrating enough just lying there staring at the canopy of his bed, but simply seeing a dark curtain on one side, when in fact he should've seen the same blue that he did with his working eye.

To see no difference when he closed the lid of his injured one terrified him beyond measure. But something in the back of his mind told him that by the end of the day, such an instance could become his permanent reality, so he had to reconcile himself with it somehow.

He'd found himself using his fingers to see for him, in a bizarre way. Normally, he would look down to see if Val was still asleep, but this morning, he continued his new ritual of feeling along the blankets with the barest whisper of his fingertips, until they hit cool, smooth skin.

How Val could lay on him in comfort, he didn't know; her back was still covered in dressings that were too coming off today, and she'd already told him how much the mangled tissue pulled whenever she made the tiniest stretch.

Maybe she just craved comfort enough to grin and bear it. He'd been doing the same, so it stood to reason. Even if one of his favourites was nothing but a memory. He daren't speak it out loud, in case he upset her, but not being able to run his fingers through her curls of a morning was more depressing than he ever thought it could be.

He knew he had to stop trying to do it, but it was as if he were an automaton, and his main function was to wake up and immediately comb her thick tresses. But every morning, he simply clutched at air.

As he lay there, he could hear every gentle breath she took, and feel each whisper of her lips against his chest.

But such comforts couldn't last, and the time came for Varian to wake her, so that he could start the arduous task of leaving their bed.

"Val," he gently called, wondering if she could even hear him over her slight snoring. He couldn't jostle her, as any other man would.

He would only cause further pain if he did so, and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead, he manoeuvred his good leg until it was between hers, and tapped her shin with the side of his foot.

That, with a second calling of her name managed to do the trick, and she sluggishly shuffled until her chin was resting right on his breastbone.

"Mornin,'" she slurred, digging the butt of her hand into her eye.

"Morning," Varian replied, stroking the fuzz that sat on the back of her neck.

"What time is it?" Val asked, putting her head down again as she lost the battle to stay upright.

"No idea. But I need the privvy. So if you'd oblige me…" Varian said, keeping his words plain and to the point.

Thankfully, Val was quick to understand, and she slid from the bed before he could even sit up. His stick was handed to him, and although he hated using the thing, it would take a few more days before his hip was strong enough to take his weight completely, even after being reset by a priest.

"Need a hand?" Val asked, but Varian, who was renowned for being a stubborn mule, shook his head.

"I'm not completely blind yet, woman. I'll be fine, I just needed this blasted thing," he said, lifting the tip of his stick.

"When's the physician coming?" Val questioned, vexing him further.

"Later on this morning. I told Arthas that I wanted to get it over with," Varian grunted, cursing the fact that he had to sit down, as if he were a child. It meant more concentration was needed so that he didn't create puddles everywhere, and in Varian's mind, it was simply humiliating.

"You know, taking out your fear on me isn't going to help anything," Val pointed out, smoothing the bedsheets to make it look as if they'd been up for a while. She heard a telling sigh echo from the washroom.

"I know…and I apologise for it, Sweetheart, truly, I do. But I think you can understand why I'm a bit on edge," Varian said, heaving himself up and truly wondering how the stick hadn't snapped from his weight yet.

"Of course I do- I'm going through it as well, remember," Val pointed out, scratching her neck out of pure habit.

"The only thing that I'm really hoping they tell me today is that I can finally have a proper fucking bath," she added, trying to alleviate the mood.

"A humble desire, I'll grant you that," Varian said, drying his hands and coming back in to join her.

"Are you taking one before they get here?" Val asked, knowing full well that she would have to aid him if the answer was in the affirmative. She didn't begrudge the task itself. No, what she dreaded was how he would leave it until the very last minute to ask her for said aid.

He would try to do it himself out of foolish pride, and always end up causing more damage in one form or another. Today of all days, that was the last thing they needed.

"I was considering the idea, yes," Varian grumbled, sitting himself on the bed and taking the housecoat she passed over.

It was nearly a size too small for him, but he had no choice but to wear it; when he'd fled Stormwind, like countless others, he'd left every one of his possessions behind, so Arthas had hastily kitted him out with his discards until the tailor could give Varian clothes of his own.

Thankfully, Val had the sense to load some of her things onto the Rose before the invasion had started. She had a trunk of things to rifle through, and despite Varian's protests on how they wouldn't last five minutes, she'd declined to purchase anymore.

"Well it's either that, or a bed bath, take your pick," Val teased, finally drawing a chuckle from what seemed to be constantly frowning lips.

"Oh, how you spoil me, my love," he said, but Val snorted haughtily.

"I never said that I'd be the one doing it," she countered, making him laugh even more.

Although, that humour faded as quickly as it had come, and Varian reached for her hand, stopping it from fiddling with the clothes she was laying out.

"You realise that it might not be good news today," he said solemnly. But she was as positive as ever.

"Then we'll just have to deal with whatever happens, won't we?" Val replied, squeezing his fingers encouragingly.

"Will we though?" Varian asked, finding it hard to even look her in the face.

"I may end up half-blind, Val. That's no small matter." Val fully abandoned her self-appointed task at that point, and sat next to him with the whispers of a reassuring smile still sitting upon her tired face.

"Whether you have both eyes working or not, Varian Wrynn, I'm just grateful that you're here at all," she admitted, letting go of his hand and putting her own on his thigh.

"I'm not going to abandon the one person I have left over something so superficial as a silly little organ."

"A king with only one eye is no king at all. I can't be any use to the kingdom if I can't even see properly," Varian ranted, but Val knew he was simply changing to subject so he didn't have to believe that she was telling him the truth.

It was a staple that had started since he'd gained his first scar all those years ago, and Val was sure it would carry on into their old age, so she was already preparing herself to convince him every chance she could that she was going to stay no matter what.

"Your mind is still in peak condition, and that's more valuable to your people than sight will ever be," Val retorted, but he clearly wasn't having it this time.

"I'll have to abdicate before I've even ascended. That's another one to add onto my ever-growing list of failures," Varian griped, banging the end of his stick against the floor so he didn't do the same thing with his fist.

"Oh, give over, Varian. I'm sure there's been other handicapped kings before now," Val rebutted, squeezing his leg. "You're depressing yourself over something that might not even happen yet. So have a little faith."

"Bah. Faith is the lastthing I want to have right now," Varian scoffed, looking up as if that would give him a glimpse of the heavens themselves.

"Where was the Light when our city was burned, hm? When innocent people died for no good reason?"

That was when he roughly got to his feet in order to pace his anger away.

"Everyone who utters 'Light bless you' after all of this deserves to be burned by that same bloody light," he snarled, flat out ignoring the dull ache that was creeping up his bad leg.

Val knew better than to argue with him this time; over the years, he'd made his views on religion quite clear. But since the fall, what had initially been a disdain had morphed into a fiery hatred, and nothing anyone said could dampen it.

"Sit down, before you hurt yourself even more," she gently commanded, but of course, that just agitated him further.

"Stop talking to me as if I'm a fucking child, Val! I've had enough of that from Terenas over the past week, I don't need it from you as well!" he roared. But after a few moments of silence that Val herself initiated, his face softened, and his eyes grew sullen.

"I'm sorry. It's just…"

"All getting a bit much?" Val offered, noticing how his voice tapered off.

"Aye…that's probably the best way to put it," Varian replied pitifully, and Val watched his shoulders heave with a defeated sigh.

"I need to be doingsomething, Val. Since I've gotten here, all I've done is sit in this room, when what I should really be focusing on is what's going on downstairs," he said frustratedly, leaning on his stick to take the weight off.

"You will be, when you're better, Varian. There's absolutely no point in facing the other leaders in the state you're currently in," Val pointed out, but she was met with a defiant huff.

"How do you know? It could be the thing that sways them," he rebutted, curling his lip as if his own words disgusted him.

Any further ranting was miraculously stemmed, however, by a light knock upon the door. The quiet sound told them both immediately who was behind it, and Varian granted Tiffin entry with a simple grunt of the word 'enter'.

To his chagrin, she was followed by Prince Arthas, who'd tested the king of Stormwind's patience sorely since he'd arrived in Lordaeron, simply because he'd made it his mission to aid him in any way possible.

"Morning, all," Arthas greeted, making Varian's teeth grit already with his light, airy tone.

"Morning," Val replied, putting the last of Varian's clothes out and closing the closet door.

"Who's arrived already? I herd voices in the grounds," Varian sharply asked, but thankfully, it didn't even make Arthas flinch. He'd experienced it too many times during their lives to let such a terse tone affect him anymore.

"So far, Daelin Proudmoore, Lord Perenolde, and Trollbane," Arthas answered, taking a seat at the breakfast table as Tiffin helped Val open the curtains and windows.

"So Greymane isn't coming?" Varian questioned, with no intentions of hiding the hope that coated his voice as he did so.

"Don't count your chickens just yet, brother. The day's still young- he may just not wish to break his fast with us," Arthas advised, giving quite the look of disapproval as Varian accepted Val's offer of a cigarette.

"Then at least we agree on somethingalready. If I had to look at his ugly mug across a table, it'd put me right off my food," Varian griped.

"Varian, he wouldn't be coming unless he wanted to consider His Majesty's proposition. I think that warrants a certain amount of civility from you," Tiffin chided, folding her slender arms across her chest.

"Genn Greymane doesn't deserve my civility. Not after all that's happened," Varian barked, clearly showing that he still held a grudge towards the Gilnean King.

"He does if it means you get his armies out of it, Varian," Arthas pointed out, growing weary of Varian's anger already, and dreading how the rest of the day was going to turn out because of it.

"He has a point, love. You may not like him, but you needhim right now," Val agreed, lighting her cigarette and passing the match over to Varian.

"Is that really what it's come to? Grovelling to men I would sooner spit upon?" Varian grumbled, taking the first inhale, and feeling a familiar burn travel down his throat.

"Unfortunately for you, yes, it has. What happened to Stormwind has already proven that one kingdom cannot stand alone against the Horde and come out victorious. We need the help of others if we're to succeed," Arthas said plainly, even though he knew as well as the two women behind him that it'd incur further wrath.

"I know that, you smartarse. I was being rhetorical," Varian snapped, blowing his smoke out of the open balcony door. He slumped back against the wall, and closed his eyes in a vain attempt to stop himself from furthering his own anger.

"I just wish that we weren't at this point," Varian admitted, opening his eyes and staring at nothing in particular.

"Were it within my power, I would go back in time and make sure Garona never put my father under her spell. I'd expose her for what she was, and prevent all that's happened."

"Unfortunately, that's a luxury we don't have," said Arthas, who felt rather emboldened by how his head hadn't been bitten off already.

"But what we do have, is a second chance. A chance to get you, and your people home."

"It's a chance I'm going to grab with both hands. No matter who I have to break bread with," Varian agreed, looking down at himself with a renewed vigor.

"I need to get ready. The sooner this physicians done what he needs to, the sooner I can turn my mind to more important matters."

"The offer of a helping hand is still there if you want it," Val said, rolling the sleeves of her nightshirt up to further her point.

"I do. As much as it pains me," Varian admitted, and even Arthas was impressed by his honesty.

"Then Lady Tiffin and I will ready everything else. You two take care of each other."

"Tissue granulation is coming along verynicely…no signs of infection…"

Val's eyes were squeezed tightly shut, but she was listening intently to every word that the royal physician was saying as he inspected her back.

He'd been in their chambers all of twenty minutes, but already, he'd peeled off every bandage, washed away whatever dried flecks of ointment still lingered, and studied her burns as if they were the most informative tome in all of Lordaeron.

Varian was sat nearby, watching with as much concentration as knobbled hands poked and prodded at the rejuvenating skin. Val could hear every breath he was sucking between his gritted teeth, and it was only making her more nervous.

"So it's healing alright?" she asked, figuring that now was the best time to do so.

"Well, as 'alright' as it can, considering how long you went without medical aid," said the old man, who opened one of the ten jars that he lain out upon the table beside him.

"Will it scar?" Varian asked, knowing full well that it was the one question Val couldn't bring herself to bear. There was a moment of silence as the physician pondered his answer, and Val could soon hear a low hum that meant he'd conjured it.

"Unfortunately, yes, Your Majesty. The skin is mending in such a way that it cannot possibly do any different."

Val rested her forehead on her folded arms in order to hide the choked, badly held back sob that was forcing its way up her throat. In her heart, she known this would be the case. But to hear it out-loud, from someone who knew exactly what they were talking about, was most disheartening.

"But there are things we can do, miss, don't fret. Ointments, potions…skin grafts even-"

"I won't have her put through any more than she already has. Just tell us how we can manage them," Varian barked, clearly noticing how distressed Val was becoming, despite her poor attempts to convince them all otherwise.

"Very well, Your Majesty…" conceded the physician, who over the past week, had familiarised himself quite well with the highly flammable temper of Stormwind's monarch.

He popped the cork from a vial full of red, shimmering liquid, and using his thumb to cover most of the open top, let about ten drops fall into the jar he'd just opened.

It turned the clear, gelatinous substance a pale pink once it was mixed in, and with a muttered apology, the physician used two fingers to scoop it out and etch it onto the lines of Val's marred back.

"I will leave a jar of this mixture behind for your use, and will replace it once it's emptied. Apply it twice a day- more, if you exert yourself, and feel the need for it," he instructed, watching it do it's work already, and ease the redness that looked rather out of place upon Val's browned skin.

"Once they heal completely, you should feel no more pain. But it may ache from time to time."

"So I'm to be affected by them for the rest of my life?" Val mumbled, moving her arm away from her mouth.

"Indeed, miss…but maybe not as much as one would expect," was her reply.

"Will it affect her mobility? She already finds it hard to raise her arms," Varian added, taking the reins completely from the defeated Val.

"I cannot determine that until the tissue is fully healed, Your Majesty."

"Then see to him. You've done all you can for me," Val commanded, but she was met with a shaking head.

"I need to reapply your bandages, miss. Allow me to do so, thenI will see to His Majesty."

Despite her clear reluctance to let him do even that, Val lay there and patiently waited until the man was done. The smell of the dipped linen was most familiar nowadays, but that didn't stop her nose wrinkling as it was pressed down against her.

"There. You may sit up now, miss."

It was difficult to do so after staying in one position for so long, but Val managed it eventually. With a heavy silence, she gathered up her discarded tunic and brassiere, and put them on without even looking at Varian, who was understandably concerned.

"Right then, Your Majesty. Let us see if that patch has done the trick."

Varian's lips thinned as the same fingers that had been working on Val lifted his head up by the chin, and from the corner of his good eye, the menacing glint of a long, polished pair of tweezers made his chest tighten.

He braced himself for heartache as the thin cotton that he'd been wearing for over a week was ever so slowly peeled from his eye. The stickiness of the potion it'd been filtering through to the organ made him wince as more and more of the patch was removed, but in his mind, it'd be worth it if all worked out as planned.

A few hard blinks told him his fate.

"Well? Can you see, love?"

Varian felt the air leave his lungs, and his shoulders sag with great happiness.

"Aye…I can. It's a bit blurred, but yes…I can see," he said, sounding more emotional than he'd intended to.

"That blurriness should ease after a few days. Your eye needs to get used to the environment again," said the physician, who discarded the patch in a nearby dish, and bent over the king in order to properly examine him.

"No scarring on the iris itself…minor markings on the whites…I would consider yourself very lucky, Your Majesty."

"I don't hold with notions such as 'luck'," Varian grumbled.

"Follow my finger, please, Your Majesty."

Varian did exactly that, and while the digit in question was nothing but a blurry mess for the moment, he was simply too glad to see it at all for it to bother him.

"Will he need regular checks?" Val asked, watching with relief as both of Varian's royal blue irises moved in tandem with each other.

"Not for long," the physician said, pulling down Varian's bottom eyelid with a thumb.

"Good. I intend to travel soon, so I can't linger about here waiting for you," Varian stated, blinking again to stop his eyes watering.

"Noted, Your Majesty. Now then, if you'll allow me, I'll cut your stitches, and clean them before I leave."

"Do what you will," Varian agreed, feeling Val's hand take his own, and curling his fingers as tightly as he could.

This was the first step to getting himself back on track. In turn, that meant he could do something worthwhile- get his kingdom back.