Scourge - 7 (Patreon)

Rodger knocked loudly on the door to Darius' office, waiting a moment for an answering grunt before opening it. "I apologise for the interruption, sir," he said tightly, "but the daughter of the house, Lady Vivianne, and Witch Arevin insisted upon seeing you immediately. They have brought guests."

We were all still in our travelling clothes, scarcely off the gryphons for ten minutes, and all somewhat damp. In most circumstances we would have stopped to refresh ourselves, given him time to prepare an audience, but the situation of the princesses being what it was... it seemed more sensible to bring them to him immediately. If he refused to shelter them at this point, I would have to.

Something which was hardly ideal.

"I see." Darius said, slowly setting down his pen on his desk as his gaze fixated on the princess in our midst. "Thank you, Rodger. See that the good thane's mount is taken care of, and prepare provisions to replace those he used in coming here."

"Och, ye nae have tae do 'at." Caedan waved a hand dismissively. "The wee lass be toppin' up me bags on the way back."

Darius shook his head, a faint smile on his face. "I disagree. After your efforts in rescuing my daughter from danger you are afforded every hospitality, Thane Kindfeather. My home is yours so long as you need it."

"I'll see to it at once, my lord." Rodger said, bowing deeply. "A room also, near to the gryphon stables?"

"Mighty kind o' ye."

As Rodger took his leave, closing the door silently behind him, the air of the room suddenly grew thick; an air of danger that sent a shiver down my spine and turned my skin to gooseflesh.

Lord Crowley wasn't smiling anymore, and as he stood I was reminded of just how much smaller than most people I was. Though I was largely happy with the experience, being the little one who could easily be held and cuddled, the feeling of being loomed over made me miss my stature from my old life a little.

"Aren't you going to introduce them, daughter of mine?" Lord Crowley said, a cold calm running through his voice. "I recognise the good thane from descriptions, but he is not all you have brought back from your expedition beyond the wall. Please, enlighten me."

Little Lianne clutched at her mother's neck tightly as Calia stepped forward. "Princess Calia Menethil, and my daughter, Princess Lianne Menethil. With the death of my father at the hands of my treasonous brother, I am to be the next queen of Lordaeron. I have come to Gilneas to seek shelter for myself and my daughter, and to beseech the armies of Gilneas for aid against my kingdom's plight."

He looked down at her, his one eye flinty as he took her measure. The princess stood firm, unflinching, and simply waited.

"We shall discuss your business here another time, Princess." He said, no emotion appearing on his face. "For now... I grant you the hospitality of my house. I only ask of you that you keep your status secret for the moment. Vivianne, show Calia and her daughter to a bath and allow her to make herself presentable."

"Dar–" Vivi started, only to cut herself off as his gaze turned to her. "Yes, Lord Crowley." She finished, sounding subdued. "If you would follow me, Princess. I mean, Calia."

"Thank you, Lord Crowley." Calia said with a nod of her head, before following Vivi out of the office.

Caedan scratched at his beard in the uncomfortable silence, humming loudly as he looked up at Darius. He was unfazed by the situation, unlike either me or Lorna.

I got the feeling Lorna had rarely, if ever, faced her father's anger like this before. I had seen it, once, but it hadn't been directed at me. No, it had been at Godfrey for me, after he had done so much damage to my home and gotten away with his actions with such a minor reprimand from the king.

"I be kenning that ye be wantin' tae speak tae these two alone." Caedan said bluntly. "The lasses needed rescuing, nae question there, but ye've gone right cold an' there be a reason for it."

Lord Crowley snorted, turning away and walking back to his desk. "There is. I shall extend my trust to you, Thane, as my witch did in the past. The presence of a daughter and the absence of a husband lends truth to the thought that she needed rescuing, but said rescue needed to be to somewhere other than Gilneas." His fingers ran along the wooden top, selecting a sheet of paper and holding it up. "How many letters have I written, how many bargains have I made, how many plans have I schemed, that you have all but undone in a single week?"

"What?" I whispered, deeply confused. I'd known he didn't want her to come here, but I hadn't known why. What plans had he made–

Oh. Oh... oh no.

"Father, the princess is an avenue to return to the Alliance." Lorna protested, though she surely had come to the same realisation as me. The political consequences of harbouring a foreign royal. "A chance we can hardly ignore."

"A chance we may never have the chance to take." Lord Crowley rebutted flatly. "What have you to say for yourself, Miss Arevin? I gave you instructions regarding the princess. Lorna should have known better but has the excuse of not disobeying me. You do not."

I took a deep breath. I had tried to follow his orders, I had remembered them. "I argued that Calia and Lianne should go with Caedan, back to Aerie Peak, as they are still part of the Alliance. It would have been safer for them both if they could make it." I couldn't implicate Vivi. I refused to implicate Vivi as to why I didn't put up more of a fight. "But, with Lianne's young age, the flight to the mountains across a week or more in inclement weather... would not have been safe for her. Gilneas was closer."

"Aye, that be the reasoning." Caedan added, walking over to one of the guest seats and hopping into it. "Mebbe if the wee lass came with the wee bairn'd be fine. But that's nae solution."

Frowning deeply, Lord Crowley nodded. "Indeed it is not. I would have been quite angry if you stole my witch from me, Thane Kindfeather."

"Call me Caedan." Caedan said flippantly. "Yer daughter's got me gryphon's son. Ain't quite like bein' kin, but it be close."

"Whether or not Gilneas was closer, bringing her here remains a danger to our plans. To the plans you made with me, Gwyneth." Lord Crowley said, brushing past Caedan's offer. At least he was using my name again. "The stakes, the situation, has changed much. With the support I have gathered, should Genn blunder, there would be no need for the Northgate Rebellion. Too much of the nation looks badly upon his decisions over recent years."

"I made the decision I thought best, what I thought was right. Just as you taught me, Father." Lorna said defiantly. "To deny the princess sanctuary and leave her to suffer further losses against the Scourge, to risk losing her, is a greater danger than her presence brings."

Lord Crowley tapped his fingers on his desk. "Perhaps. Perhaps I could argue that she is an opportunity to reclaim Northern Silverpine and Hillsbrad for Gilneas, to take back what was lost in wars long past." He shook his head and let out a bark of a laugh. "But, I know Genn. I know our king. He will argue that I overreach, that I look above my station, that I seek to become his equal."

"The lass bein' a widow jus' makes that worse." Caedan said, his lips turning downward.

"That her child is a girl and Lordaeron follows agnatic succession, only more so." Lord Crowley added, completing the picture in my mind.

"No! You wouldn't!" Lorna denied vehemently, stepping towards her father in horror.

I grabbed her arm. "It doesn't matter that he wouldn't, just that there are those that would themselves and think him capable of it."

To take advantage of a widowed princess, usurp her daughter's – the daughter of a common footman – place in line for the throne by siring a son upon her... it is exactly the sort of thing one would expect of the nobility. That Darius has remained unmarried for so long, a decade and a half, would only make it seem more likely in most circles.

Noble men were not known for containing their vices. That was the domain of shining princes who were upheld as the ideal man.

"The Kalimdor Expedition, Donovan, the Order of Amber, my control over the wall, Magroth, my alliances. Each one alone is of little concern. Together, enough to make the king suspicious." Lord Crowley looked his daughter firmly in the eye. "And now you have brought a widowed princess, of lands that bordered my own, and added her as an agent of chaos."

Lorna swallowed loudly. "We can keep her hidden, keep her safe. Find a way to send her to Kul Tiras; a ship from the expedition? I could fly her to the port."

"We shall try, for there is little else we can do." Lord Crowley said, turning his back to us once more and walking to his window. "But remember this, learn from your reckless heroism; for this day you have brought a spark which may well be that which sets Gilneas ablaze."

-oOoOo-

After Darius' dire warning and chastisement, I was dismissed and sent home. I wasn't sure how much he blamed me for the situation we were now in, whether he thought I'd encouraged Lorna to go after Calia or just let the information slip which brought it about, but it was clear he wasn't happy with me.

I wasn't even going to be allowed to take part in the talks with Calia, or have dinner with Vivi at his manor. It sucked.

It dampened the good side of coming home again a little, though my lips still quirked in amusement as I spotted my youngest apprentice taking part in her favourite hobby of late. "Hi there, Merrie." I said, moving to squat next to her where she was gently stroking a raven with an adorably determined expression on her chubby little face. "How are the ravens doing?"

She glanced up at me nervously, as if she had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. The amount of time it took for her to answer told me more about the situation than what she said. "They've been good." She lied, smiling widely.

"So, if I ask Frazzle, she won't say they've been stealing tools out of my workshop to ransom for food again?" As Merrie's face fell, I gave the raven a look, freezing it in place as it tried to hop away unnoticed. "I thought we had agreed to stop that. Fair payment for fair work, not harassing my poor assistant."

The raven let out a protesting croak, it had fledglings to feed, the winter was cold, and things were hard.

Of course, it was complete bullshit. Ravens didn't breed all year round, humans weren't the only species that did that but it was definitely not normal. And ravens were spring layers, not winter.

"Uh-huh." I raised an eyebrow at the bird. "Just for that you're gonna take a message for me, and it won't be a short flight."

"Mean!"

I snorted at Merrie's protest and shook my head. "I'll have the letter for you this evening." Darius probably wouldn't be happy with me sending it, but what's done was done, and with Calia in Gilneas the Kirin Tor should know about it. Or, at least Jaina should. "C'mon, Merrie, your nose is pink and you must be cold."

She hesitated a moment before nodding and holding out her hand. Silly girl wasn't even wearing gloves so she could brush the ravens properly and her hands were freezing as I lead her inside.

The sound of the waterwheel turning away filled the house, along with the whirring spin of the lathe as it worked. I'd have to figure out what Frazzle was up to later, maybe ask her if she was willing to work with Krennan.

As much as she hadn't enjoyed it, she had participated in some of Antonidas' experiments on the undead. Her insight could be useful... and, while I didn't want to put her back in the experience that had traumatised her enough to make her run to Gilneas, things were dire enough that wasn't the right choice. Just like my decision not to take part in them while I had been there hadn't been the right choice.

-oOoOo-

"–the tricky part is keeping it sealed properly, but if we did some tests it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which kind of propeller works best." I said, adding a few notations to my sketch. Working with Frazzle was relaxing, and after having seen the empty piers of Southshore I was thinking of ships and how to make them better. "We can wind up a spring for power rather than a full steam engine on a scale model. It'd make crossing the ocean a lot easier."

And give Gilneas a big leg up in competing with Kul Tiras on ships. Even if the biggest advantage of steam power over sails wasn't as much of a factor with the Tidesages in play, it leaned into Gilneas' strengths.

"Hmm, there's been some talk of copying the orcs’ paddle wheels for a ship in the future." Frazzle said sceptically, scribbling a few calculations onto the page. "Our submarines use fins to move, like a fish underwater, because we knot it works. Would these tiny propellers move enough water to push a big ship?"

"They would, but that's what testing is for, isn't it? To find out–" I paused, looking up as I felt Caedan walk into my garden with Featherstorm following him.

When I'd first shown him my house I'd been able to feel much, much more clearly the way the wind trailed after him. But it wasn't just the wind; the fire in my oven crackled with approval as he ate food cooked on it, the water in the pipes sang a satisfied song as he complimented the convenience, and the earth felt... firmer. Caedan was, without question, a real shaman rather than someone who could call on one or two of the elements.

If we'd had more time I would've loved to trade knowledge with him, but his and Featherstorm's desire to teach Lorna and Donovan some more tricks for flying took priority. I certainly couldn't begrudge Donovan getting a chance to know his father.

"Hey lass, ye be home?!" Caedan bellowed.

Frazzle let out a puff of air as she realised why I'd stopped talking. "Neat an idea it might be, it's not terribly useful right now." She said diplomatically. "Shelve it for later? Lord Crowley wants me to finish up his commission as quick as I can."

"Alright. You need anything?"

She shook her head and waved me off, hopping off her stool and moving back over to the bench where she was working, slipping on the magnifying monocle she'd been working on when I came in two days ago.

Leaving her to her work on Darius' new pocket watch, along with whatever additional features Frazzle was going to add to it, I headed outside to greet my guests. "Hey, it's time to leave, then?"

"Aye," he nodded, "got yer notes an' yer book. Gonna have tae high tail it back tae the peak afore the rest o' the clans show up. Northeron ain't that far away, ye ken. Dallied a wee bit already."

I walked up to give Featherstorm an affection rub on the beak. "You're welcome to come back any time. You know where I live now, after all."

Caedan held out his arm and I clasped it. "Same tae ye, lass. Figure ye can fly over tae Aerie Peak sometime after this mess be over with. Mebbe teach me brother's wee bairn some o' yer human magic. "

"Someday." I said, letting go and feeling my emotions drop a bit. It hadn't been long either time, but Caedan had made a big impact on my life and I was sad to see him go. "You better live through this. I want to see you get to set up your clan holding here like you planned one day."

"Hestra be willing." He chuckled, his beard shifting over his muscled bare chest as he did. "Wind be at yer back, lass."

"Lord of Thunder guide your strikes, Thane."

Watching him mount up and fly away, I knew my brief time of decompressing was ending. I'd needed it, I'd needed the quiet day of riding I'd shared with Vivi as I did the healing rounds in the local villages. But even if it might push me into a breakdown like the one I'd had on the pier of Southshore, time wouldn't wait any longer.

-oOoOo-

I tried not to let my frustration show on my face as the concentrated Astral light I was using to disrupt the magic cursing the woman I was trying to help was cannibalised by that same curse. Using a binding of moonleaf to tie her to a tree, to anchor her with Life, while we used the power of the stars to end the curse...

It had been more successful than any of our previous attempts. She hadn't died screaming as the curse used the magic we were trying to heal her with to accelerate its effects, rotting her organs from the inside out.

Moving aside, and out of sight of the poor woman, I shook my head at Celestine and Bishop Warren. In the back our guards, including Uncle Thomas, who knew the routine by now grimaced but didn't say anything. There was no reason to make her cry and panic; it wouldn't help.

And it made the experience worse for all of us.

"Did... did it work?" Our subject asked desperately, one of those infected with the slow plague we'd discovered within Gilneas. "Am I cured? I don't... I don't feel bad."

Celestine stood impassively, carefully undoing the bindings. "Only time will tell." She lied. "Make sure to report your symptoms to the alchemists each day."

"I will! I will. No one deserves to die like Ronnie." She shuddered, rubbing her arms as she stood. "Light bless you, all of you. I feel better already."

"Private Armand will escort you back to the camp." Bishop Warren said, her smile radiant and hopeful despite its false nature. "Light willing, no more shall die from this cursed Plague."

My hands quivered as I kept quiet. For all it was an improvement over our past attempts, it was hardly a success. the woman – girl, Trisha's just an eighteen-year-old girl – wouldn't live out the week. All we had managed to do was wake up the slowly building Plague within her; it wasn't exactly the same as the more virulent variant but it was already killing her.

As she left I let out a long breath. "She was the last one for the day, right?" I asked hopefully.

With Krennan and the Royal Alchemical Society now able to handle detecting the Plague in those coming through the wall, and the witches I'd left Heather in charge of having finished up consecrating all of the known graveyards within ten miles of the wall, most of the tasks I'd been performing were no longer necessary.

It left me plenty of time to try and work on the Plague, to find a way to erode or break the curse that killed people without it turning the attempt around to only kill them faster. But even with my ability to see it as I worked, even with Celestine's help after she arrived alongside her daughters and Keel Harbour's militia, and Bishop Warren ordered by the archbishop to contribute to our efforts personally, every step forward was met with another step backward. Though it was rare there was a new problem, the same one could manifest in a truly astonishing number of ways.

"The last I am willing to handle tonight." Bishop Warren said, any pretence of a smile gone as she fell into a chair tiredly. "Never before have I failed so many..." She rested her arm over her eyes, but I still saw tears begin to fall down her cheeks.

Shaking her head, Celestine huffed her disagreement. "Red Whooping. The whole of the Headlands suffered and, no matter how hard I worked I could not save all who came to me." Collecting the moonleaf she wrapped it around her wrist, sustaining it with magic. "That was when I discarded secrecy; babes died in my arms because I feared to use magic openly in Keel."

"Glad you did, Cele'." Thomas said, shifting the weight of his rifle on his shoulder as he stood guard. "Mum wouldn't've lasted to see you married to Robin iffin you didn't."

I rubbed at my eyes. It was dark out, for our efforts, but I wasn't really ready to sleep yet. "Is Emma still staying up to wait for you to come back?"

Celestine nodded to me idly. "I suspect she will be competing with Patricia for Tricks' attention. Her obsession with your apprentice is spurring her to do better since we arrived."

"It's annoying is what it is." I grumbled, scribbling down the notes for the experiment quickly. How long it had taken for the curse to turn the magic against its purpose, how the moonleaf had interacted with it, the rot I'd seen spread into the tree from the woman. "I'll distract her from her one-sided rivalry for a bit by giving them a lesson. After that, bed. See you in the morning, Celestine, Bishop Warren."

"Go with the Light." The bishop said automatically, still crying to herself quietly.

"Try not to let them make any thunder." Celestine said, getting a chuckle from Thomas. "Once was an accident, a second time and I suspect punishment will fall on the one responsible."

Which was me for teaching them and making them practice. I waved a hand as I left in acknowledgement; I still wanted Trix capable enough with storms to back me up when it came to a large-scale spell, and I knew she could do it, but night wasn't the right time to do it.

Even if the flashes of lightning were more impressive at night, letting her show off to Emma and getting my cousin to stop badgering her for a bit.

-oOoOo-

I peered angrily at the backs of the crowd, cursing my height and decision to come out to see what was happening directly. I should've just climbed on top of one of the new barracks and watched from there, It wasn't like other people weren't doing it.

While I could easily use magic to force my way through, even if it was just enhancing my strength enough that I could push people out of the way, it wasn't something I wanted to do. Flying up was another option, but with how many people were here there was a risk I would get trampled before I ever took the air as a raven.

And that was without considering that it was still, largely a secret.

But with the bells tolling loudly, signalling the approach of a force towards the wall, I needed to know what was going on. The whispered shouts flowing through the din of the crowd, and the fact the still open gate towered above us, made it clear it wasn't the Scourge but it couldn't be the regular trickle of refugees that hadn't stopped. The watchmen wouldn't be summoning everyone for that.

The flow of refugees and those fleeing ahead of the Scourge hadn't slowed for a moment since I was gone, the only difference now was that they were almost entirely Lordainian.

A bellowing trumpet cut across the din, giving space for a man to scream out a message over it. "Make way! Make way for the king! Make way!"

Seeing Lorna as part of the procession, mounted atop Donovan as the odd one out amongst all the more mundane horse-riding nobles, I started pushing through the much thinner crowd towards her. "Let. Me. Through!" I growled, elbowing someone out of the way who'd tried to walk through me. "Sodding git."

I was short, not invisible.

Moving towards Genn after learning about the new mess he'd caused while I was gone from the wall didn't make me terribly happy, but it was my best chance of being part of whatever this was. The idiot king had practically slowed admissions through the wall to a crawl two days ago when his order that no one who wasn't a citizen of Gilneas was to be let through the gate, despite the fact we didn't have a citizenship registry or any form of identification to work off of.

There had been some reason for it, lack of land, resources, or undue strain upon proper citizens, but I saw it for the spurious nationalistic bullshit that it was.

Genn still wanted his Perfect Gilnean Isolation and foreigners simply didn't fit into his plan. No matter the holdups and corruption his orders were causing at the gate.

Putting aside the king's fuckup that couldn't be attributed to me, I summoned an Astral light and held it above my light. It didn't take long to catch Lorna's attention.

"Gwen!" She said, shifting to the edge of the procession – the prince diverting his horse to follow her – and reached down toward me.

I had to squeeze past one last person to grab her arm and get hauled up onto Donovan.

"We were wondering where you were." Prince Liam said as I settled into place in front of Lorna. "Considering your association with the Kirin Tor your presence was desired, but even Speaker Celestine was unaware."

"Ah," I grimaced, "I was taking some time to myself." As a fox, out in the forest, with Tricks and Trix; the latter of whom was delighted to have two fox friends to play with. There was only so long I could spend teaching or failing to cure the Plague each day. "I can't let it build up like it did again."

Lorna wrapped an arm around me protectively. "No, no you cannot."

"Wait," I said, my mind catching up to why they wanted me, "the Kirin Tor?"

My question was answered as the procession came to a stop, the riding nobles fanning out beside the king. Godfrey had, somehow, reclaimed his position to the left of the king while Darius took the right. Liam was only one step further down, and us one beyond that.

And ahead were hundreds of mages, each dressed in the robes of the Kirin Tor and some of whom I even recognised; Lottie Spellwaker looked absolutely furious atop her horse. Behind them came wagon upon wagon, laden with books and odd trinkets and more than one object that was floating over the wagon bed rather than sitting upon it. At least a thousand civilians made up the remainder of the train of people, and more than that, they were all wearing something signifying their origin of Dalaran.

"Your Majesty," Archmage Arugal said silkily, bowing from the waist at the head of the force. "As the Kirin Tor has chosen to expel all those of Gilnean origin in order to make room for refugees from elsewhere in the Alliance, I have come seeking sanctuary for those of us who once called Gilneas home."

"What? They would never, this is absurd."

I turned to my left, seeing that the prince had voiced the same thought I was having. What Arugal was saying... was not what the Kirin Tor were doing.

No, they were preparing for the worst. I looked upon the wagons in a new light; they were preserving what they could, sending it to a place of safety, somewhere that wasn't set to become the broken toy of a demon lord. I would be shocked if this was the only plan they had to do that, but, it was... it was something I hadn't ever even considered them doing.

"Once you asked if I would serve as your court mage, Genn." Arugal continued when no response was forthcoming from the king. "I refused as I desired to seek out–"

"Yes, Arugal." Genn said gruffly. "I offer you the position once more. And, to all good sons and daughters of Gilneas that wish to return home, I bid you welcome." He turned, eyes tracking down the line and pausing on me for a brief moment. "Witch Arevin, Alchemist Aranas, you will see that our kinsmen are tested quickly and granted refuge. Even now we cannot lose our vigilance against the foul Plague of Lordaeron."

"Indeed, that is true your majesty." Arugal said, raising his head. "As what spurred our march, the Council's decision, was word of the undead fighting orcs in the mountains. Only a few days' ride from Dalaran." His face was dark as he uttered the words that chilled me to the bone. "That, I warn you, was four days ago. They have dogged our heels and claimed some of our number despite the magic brought to bear to speed our passage."