When she heard raised voices and startled gasps from the back of the cathedral, it was almost a relief. She turned and saw two weather - beaten Sentinels talking animatedly with the two priestesses. Even as she rose and tried to exit quietly, she saw Varian already on the move.
The human priestess, apparently against the wishes of the dwarf, who looked put out, was steering the two Sentinels into a room on the left - hand side. Jaina hastened to join them. Even as she walked through the entrance to the room, Varian joined her. There was no time for greetings, but the two exchanged acknowledging glances.
Varian turned to the paladins who had also moved to join them. "Lord Grayson," he said to the tall man with black hair and an eye patch, "get these soldiers some food and drink."
"Aye, sir," the paladin said, hastening off to do so himself. Such was the attitude of paladins; any service, however humble, that helped another was of the Light.
"Please, sit," Varian said.
The taller of the two night elves, a purple - skinned woman with white hair, shook her head. "Thank you, Your Majesty, but this is no pleasure errand. We come with dire news and stand ready to report back as soon as possible."
Varian nodded, tensing slightly. "Then deliver your news."
She nodded. "I am Sentinel Valarya Riverrun. This is Sentinel Ayli Leafvvhisper. We come with reports of attacks by the Horde in Ashenvale. The treaty has been violated."
Jaina and Varian exchanged glances. "We knew when we signed the agreement that there would be a few holdouts, on both sides," Jaina said hesitantly. "The borders have long been a source of — "
"I would not be here if this were a skirmish, Lady Jaina Proudmoore," Valarya said icily. "We were not born yesterday. We know to expect the occasional row. This was not such a thing. This was a slaughter. A slaughter, when the Horde claims to be peaceable!"
Jaina and Varian listened, Jaina with ever - widening eyes and Varian slowly clenching his fists, as the gory tale unfolded. A dozen Sentinels had been ambushed as they guarded a convoy of harvested herbs and mineral carts making their way through the green forests of Ashenvale. None had survived. Their deaths were only discovered when the convoy was two days late in arriving at its destination. The carts and all they had contained were gone.
Valarya paused and took a deep breath, as if calming herself. Her sister Sentinel stepped beside her and squeezed her shoulder. Varian was frowning, but Jaina pressed on.
"It is indeed a violation of the agreement," Jaina said, "and as such needs to be brought to Thrall's attention. But even so — I'm afraid I still don't see what makes you call this a slaughter rather than an unfortunately not uncommon incident."
Ayli winced and turned away. Jaina looked from one to the other. These were warriors, who had likely been fighting for longer than Jaina had been alive. What had rattled them so?
"Let me put it this way, Lady Proudmoore," Valarya said through clenched teeth. "We weren't able to recover the bodies."
Jaina swallowed. "Why not?"
"Because they had been methodically chopped into several pieces," Valarya said, "and those pieces were taken away by carrion eaters. This was, of course, after they had been skinned. We're not sure if they were alive for that or not."
Jaina's hand flew to her mouth. Bile rose in her throat. This was beyond obscene, beyond an atrocity….
"The skins were hung like linens from a nearby tree. And on that tree, written in elven blood, were Horde symbols."
"Thrall!" bellowed Varian. He whirled on Jaina, glaring at her. "He authorized this! And you prevented me from killing him when I had the chance!"
'Varian," Jaina said, fighting not to be sick, "I've fought beside him. I've helped negotiate treaties with him — treaties he has always honored.
There is nothing about this that sounds like anything he would do. We have no proof whatsoever that he authorized this incursion, and — "
"No proof? Jaina, they were ores! He's an ore, and he's supposed to lead the damned Horde!"
Her stomach was calm now, and she knew that she was in the right. "The Defias are humans," Jaina said, very quietly. "Should you be held responsible for their actions?"
Varian jerked as if she had struck him. For a moment she thought she had reached him. The Defias were a deeply personal enemy and had taken a great deal from Varian. Then his brows drew together in a scowl that was made terrifying by the brutal scar across his face. He did not look like himself now.
He looked like Lo'Gosh.
"You dare recall that to me," he growled softly.
"I do. Someone has to recall you to yourself." She did not meet the anger of Lo'Gosh, the part of Varian that was cold and swift and violent, with anger of her own. She met it with the practicality that had saved her — and others — time and time again.
'You lead the kingdom of Stormwind — the most powerful in the Alliance. Thrall leads the Horde. You can make laws, and rules, and treaties, and so can he. And he is no more capable of controlling the actions of every single one of his citizens than you are. No one is."
Lo'Gosh scowled. "What if you are wrong, Jaina? And what if I'm right? You've been known to be a poor judge of character in the past."
Now it was Jaina's turn to freeze, stunned, at the words. He was hurling Arthas back at her. That was how Lo'Gosh played, how he had won in gladiatorial combat — dirty, using every tool at his disposal in order to win at all costs. Her nightmare rushed back at her, and she pushed it away. She took a deep breath and composed herself.
"Many of us knew Arthas well, Varian. Including you. You lived with him for years. You didn't see the monster he would become. Neither did his father, nor Uther."
"No, I didn't. But I'm not making the same mistake again, and you are. Tell me, Jaina, if you had seen what Arthas would become… would you have tried to stop him? Would you have had the guts to kill your lover, or would you have stood by, peace at all costs, a mewling little pacifist who - "
"Father!"
The word, uttered in a boyish tenor voice, cracked like a whip. Varian whirled.
Anduin stood in the doorway. His blue eyes were wide and his face was drained of color. But there was more than an expression of shock on his face. There was bitter disappointment. Before Jaina's eyes, Varian changed. Gone was the coldly raging anger of Lo'Gosh. His posture shifted. He was Varian again.
"Anduin — " Varian's voice, steady, but tinged with worry and a hint of regret.
"Save it," Anduin said, disgusted. "You stay in here and — do whatever it was you were doing. I'll go back out to provide the sort of royal face that lets our people know someone cares about what they've lost. Even if he is a mewling little pacifist."
He turned on his heel and stalked toward the door. He gripped the doorframe for a moment. Jaina watched as his back straightened and he brushed at his hair, composing himself, putting on the face of calmness as he might put on his crown. He had had to grow up so quickly. The two Sentinels glanced at one another briefly. Varian stood for a moment, staring where his son had been. He sighed deeply.
"Jaina, why don't you return as well?" At her look of uncertainty, he smiled a little. "Don't worry. The Sentinels and I will talk reasonably about what's to be done."
Jaina nodded. "Afterward, though — a moment of your time?"
"Of course." He turned back to the two elven females. "Now, you were saving. When did the attacks occur?"
The conversation continued in low voices. Varian was listening to all that was said, but he would not rush to anger again. Jaina turned and slipped quietly from the room. She did not, however, seek out the same pew at which she had been sitting. Instead, she hung toward the back of the cathedral, standing quietly in the shadows, watching and listening and doing what she did best… thinking.