Damned If I Do: Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Chapter 9: From Dalaran, With Love

Kel’Thuzad stroked his beard for a moment after Arthas, Jaina, and I presented him with our offer. It really hadn’t taken much time to get all the pieces in place once we’d all agreed. The Admiralty in Kul Tiras had agreed not only to sponsor research, but also to reaffirm their commitment to the Alliance. How fitting that Jaina was the perfect symbol of that commitment, and already in Dalaran.

I’m sure Admiral Proudmoore was pleased, but back to the matter at hand.

“This,” said Kel’Thuzad, “is rank bribery.”

I rolled my eyes.

“It is not.” Arthas slashed his hand through the air. And really, when you were a literal Paladin of Goodness™, that statement had some weight. “We believe in the Alliance, and are stating directly what benefits the Alliance will offer Dalaran in the immediate future.”

“Contingent on my vote, of course.” Kel’Thuzad’s lips pulled into a sallow grin. “Boy, you can dress it up all you like, but—”

“But if the Alliance fractures, as it does even now,” Arthas continued. “I will not be able to send resources to a foreign city state. Instead, those same resources will be concentrated in Lordaeron.” He leaned forward. “Where, incidentally, the large presence of the Silver Hand will prevent any sort of study into Darker Magics.”

“Yet you expect me to believe that in Dalaran, such things would be… overlooked?” Kel’Thuzad leaned back in his chair. We were in his study, a room filled floor to ceiling with tomes and scrolls of all kinds.

“It provides a fig leaf of plausible deniability.” Arthas shrugged. “In time, perhaps attitudes will change. I have begun to see the value of exploring allavenues of magic, if only to know what we might face in the future. For now, though, the King is willing to offer resources to be used ‘at Dalaran’s discretion’, especially if you find something for the rumors of some sickness spreading through Stromgarde.”

Kel’Thuzad stroked his beard again. “Stromgarde, you say? I’d not heard of such rumors.”

“They were attached in my most recent correspondence with Lordaeron.” Arthas frowned to the side. “It is a recent development. Danath Trollbane claims to have it contained, but a proven cure would not be denied out of hand.”

Kel’Thuzad chuckled. “You would be surprised at the stupidity of people. Nevertheless!” He rose. “I find that I am interested in this ‘material assistance’. Perhaps I too have begun to see the value of having allies.” His tone was mocking, as his gimlet eyes turned to me. “Especially ones that do not betray their masters.”

I shrugged. “I knew you’d be interested, but too prideful by half if we did this any other way.”

“Prideful?” Kel’Thuzad snorted. “Perhaps I haven’t taught you as well as I thought.”

“If you want to be rid of me, I’ll be leaving Dalaran in short order, anyway.” I gave an empty smile. “I’m sure Jaina can help me improve my skills in that case.”

“No.” Kel’Thuzad slashed his hand through the air. “Rather, the council meeting where I approve this foolish quest will be the perfect place to make you my official apprentice.”

Jaina, Arthas, and I shared a glance. “I thought you were upset.”

Kel’Thuzad cackled, striding across the room. “Upset? Perhaps you truly do not know me so well as you thought. Still, if there is one thing about this whole scheme that I enjoy, it’s that it means I do not have to waste my precious time.”

With the flick of his hand, he summoned a violet familiar. He whispered a muttered incantation, summoning a scroll of parchment, which he dispatched through the window with haste. “There, I’ve sent to Antonidas that I will agree to your proposal. He should gather the other dodderers to the high chambers soon enough. Now, to more important matters.”

“More important?” Arthas asked.

“Yes, now out, both of you.” He waved a hand at the pair of blondes. They blinked. “None of that; I’ll be along shortly, but for now I have matters to discuss with my apprentice.”

“Ah, on that note!” Jaina stepped forward, even as Arthas looked torn between his annoyance and his courtesy. “Taylor said she had begun studying void magic—”

“And if you receive approval from your Master to add a new course to the College, perhaps I will have room on the roster for you.” Kel’Thuzad cackled at Jaina’s expression. “Call it a material benefit, then, girl. Now out!” And with that he waved his hands, and a gust of arcane wind swept through the chamber.

Jaina’s own protections lasted for a moment, but then the two of them were bodily picked up and deposited outside the study. The door slammed shut behind them.

I blinked, before turning back to Kel’Thuzad. “Anyway, you said you had something to talk about?”

“Hmm, yes.” He turned, striding to the nearest shelf and pulling a few scrolls from the walls, evaluating them, before putting them back. “I would have preferred you stay in Dalaran, but given that this is your little plan, I suppose it only makes sense that you leave to see it through to its conclusion.”

“I never said it was my plan.” I frowned.

“Do you think me a fool?” He pulled a smaller book from the shelf, weighing it in his hands. “Jaina and her princeling lack the spine to pull off such a daring gambit. I would have been well within my rights to expel you all from the College for this little attempt at bribery.”

I shrugged. “I knew you wouldn’t care about that.”

“Hence, ‘your’plan.” He placed the first book as well as a scroll and a single large tome in my hands. “And these will be your course syllabus while you are away.”

I could feel a sort of familiar darkness resonating with each of them. “There’s nothing here about necromancy.”

“Because you are a rank amateur at it with middling talent at best.” Kel’Thuzad flicked his fingers, and another familiar brought over a worn-looking travel bag. A quick glance inside showed it to be expanded. “Meanwhile, only a fool would fail to see your easy familiarity with the Void.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m just used to going insane. Still, isn’t this moving a bit fast?”

“I do so hate wasting my time.” The old man looked me over once more before slipping another scroll onto the pile and nodding. “I shall expect you to make your way through that material at your own pace. Perhaps I will even be along to check in order to ensure you are not wasting your time.”

I looked down at the rather intimidating book I was holding, along with the other accoutrements. “Got it.” I slid the things into the bag before fastening it around my waist. I was wearing my simple apprentice robes at the moment, though I’d probably get those changed out for something suited for travel. “I guess that means it’s official, then?”

“I shall make an announcement at the council chambers.” Kel’Thuzad paused for a moment, stroking his beard. “Normally it would be the usual course to give you a new set of robes, or perhaps a focus. Only a fool cares about his robes, and you would not be benefitted by most of the arcane enchantments set upon them anyway.”

“And a focus?”

“I’ve yet to distil a focus for the Void; you’ll have to make do on your own.” Suddenly his gaze was on me, hard and piercing. “Do not exceed your own abilities in your practice. The call of the Void is as subtle as it is insidious. Take proper precautions at all times, or I will have you thrown into the Violet Hold myself.”

For my part, I only nodded. “I won’t let you down.”

“See that you don’t.” He gave his beard one last stroke. “Let us be off. Bill your traveling clothes to the College; it should serve as an adequate replacement for a focus. I’ll not have my apprentice looking like a ragamuffin in the presence of royalty.”

I rolled my eyes. “Perish the thought.”

“You will also feel out the various member states as to their stance on so-called ‘darker’ magics. Do not bother with Stromgarde; Trollsbane is a hidebound fool, but perhaps some of the dwarves will be interested in deeper lore.”

With that last bit of advice—I guess to just really drive home that I was his apprentice for real—he strode over to the door, opening it to find Jaina and Arthas standing on the other side.

“Did I not tell you to be on your way?” With an annoyed huff, he walked past them. Jaina and Arthas both favored me with a look before falling in behind him.

I shrugged. “He gave me some books.”

“Which you are notto share with apprentice Proudmoore!” Kel’Thuzad didn’t so much as look over his shoulder as he proceeded to the council chambers.

Jaina half tripped. “M-master Kel’Thuzad! I-I would never stoop so low as to—”

“Please, girl. I stand by what I said.” A crowd of acolytes parted before us as we made our way through Dalaran’s central square. “If you find yourself so interested in the Void, perhaps you should find a way to study it legally, do you not think?”

“And what about Taylor herself?” Arthas asked. “Given that it’s hardly something permitted at the moment.”

“What she does beyond Dalaran’s borders is no concern of the Council’s.” Kel’Thuzad turned his head just enough to show the edge of his smirk. “I imagine, accompanied by a Prince of Lordaeron, there will be no troubles.”

Arthas huffed, looking away.

“Consider her a pilot student, for your future program in Dalaran.”

I chuckled. “The Menethil Wing of the college has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it, Arthas?”

Arthas huffed. “I imagine it will tickle mother pink. Queen Lianne had quite some interest in magic when she was younger.”

“Really?” Jaina asked.

Arthas nodded. “It is why she took so kindly to you.” His tone was teasing, and Jaina blushed slightly.

“You’re all talk.”

Kel’Thuzad muttered something unkind to himself, but then we were there, the Chamber of Air itself. The surly Archmage bid us wait on the ground floor as he ascended to the upper ring to join the rest of the Council of Six.

The chamber itself was a marvel. It had no walls or ceiling, merely a ring of columns supporting a raised platform of elegantly worked metal. The pillars rose above to support a stone oculus, though really, given it was only a single band of stone breaking the view of the sky, perhaps it wasn’t correct to call it that. Some called it the heart of Dalaran, and really, one had only to step inside it to see why.

I leaned over to Jaina. “It’s my first time inside.”

“Second actually.” I must have looked surprised, because she gave a quiet laugh. “You were brought here when you were first found, though, granted, they didn’t call a full session. Master Antonidas released you from the ice block, then you were quickly healed and taken to the medical wing.”

“I… didn’t know that.” I shrugged. “I guess it’s just the first time I’m alive enough to see it.”

Jaina blinked. “You mean awake enough.”

I just laughed as the last member of the Council teleported in to his spot on the raised ring. With that, the meeting began.

“What is the cause of this session?” I saw Archmage Modera speak first. She was a stern-looking woman, with sharp features. “I thought the question of Prince Arthas’s alliance tour was one long since settled, Antonidas.”

“Indeed it was.” Antonidas nodded jovially. “But apparently there has been a new development, and since prior there was not a majority for or against the decision, it seemed only relevant to revisit the question.”

The Archmages weren’t people to mutter among themselves, but that definitely prompted a few of them to look around in surprise. On the floor below, we began to gather a smallish crowd as apprentices and journeymages gathered to see what was going on.

Normally, I’d heard that the chamber was closed during council meetings, but apparently this was more of an ad hoc affair, so it had been left open.

Kel’Thuzad stepped forward to the edge of the platform. “I have decided to change my stance on the matter. I believe that the Alliance may offer continued… benefit to the College of Dalaran. Thus I declare my voice for Prince Arthas’s ‘Tour of Unity’.” There was a moment of surprised silence. “I take it that no one else has had a change of heart either way.”

“Change of heart?” Archmage Modera shook her head. “You did not even deign to show up to the initial proceeding, Kel’Thuzad.”

He chuckled. “Perhaps I merely wished for more time before coming to a decision. Nevertheless, I believe that would make the vote four in favor, and two against, would it not? Unless another has to add more to add to this discussion?”

Antonidas cleared his throat. “Shall I call a formal vote, my fellow Archmages?”

Modera sighed, the sound echoing off the wards of the chamber, even though we were surrounded by nothing but air. “I do not see a need. My stance hasn’t changed, but I care little enough on this matter.” One by one, the other Archmages signalled their assent to the ad hoc ‘vote’.

“Dalaran shall thus send an envoy with Prince Arthas to reaffirm our support of the Alliance.” Antonidas waved his staff through the air. “So mote it be.”

“Excellent!” Kel’Thuzad clapped his hands. “I will also be sending along my apprentice, Taylor Hebert, to express my personal interests in the matter. Now, if there was nothing else to settle, I have experiments to attend to.”

“Sending your apprentice?”

“Now, what is the meaning of this?”

Kel’Thuzad brushed past the sudden surge of questions. “Beyond that, I have no interest in the envoy, I simply have chosen to inform you all of my intentions with my apprentice as a matter of courtesy.” With that, he lifted his own staff once before thumping it into the teleportation circle at his feet.

With a flash of violet light, he was gone.

The discussion, on the other hand, had only just begun.

“Well,” one of the other Archmages said. “I think I shall also send an apprentice of mine. Silverthorn is near ready enough for his journeymage trials, and this should serve as an excellent opportunity for him to broaden his horizons.”

“I believe I already made my intentions quite clear.” Antonidas chuckled. “In turn, I recently received word that Kul Tiras has expressed their support of this venture, so it seems Jaina Proudmoore to be an excellent addition to this expedition.”

“Are we all going to be sending apprentices now?” Archmage Modera sighed.

“You are always free to sit this one out if it pleases you, old girl.”

“I think not.” She sniffed. The chamber really did have excellent acoustics, you know, for a place with no walls.

I blame magic.

“If the lot of you intend to attach your own eyes and ears to our envoy, I shall hardly leave myself out of it.”

“No reason to say it so clearly,” I muttered. Jaina elbowed me in the side.

But in any case, after that all of the Archmages put forward an apprentice to be attached to the Tour, with the one exception of Kael’Thas, since he had no claimed apprentices of his own. Or at least, that’s what Jaina whispered to me.

“Prince Arthas, step forward,” Antonidas called.

Arthas gave us a brief nod before stepping forward to the center of the chamber. He stood in the middle of the circle of pillars while the Council looked down on him from above.

“Before we discuss the matter of our Envoy, it should behoove this council to know your itinerary.”

“Of course, Archmage.” Arthas gave a polite bow. “First, to commemorate the beginning of my Tour of Unity in truth, we will be returning to the City of Lordaeron. From there, I thought it the best course to teleport to Quel’Thalas, before traveling the rest of the Alliance by more conventional means.”

“Lordaeron? Does it make sense to return so early?” Antonidas asked.

“For two reasons. The first, of course, is the formal announcement of King Menethil’s support of the Alliance, and his good wishes, which we will be carrying to each other member state. Including another stop in Dalaran on our return journey, of course.”

“And the second?”

“As many of you know, I am a Paladin of the Silver Hand.” Arthas pressed his fist to his ornamental breastplate. “The ceremony of my knighting, however, has yet to occur. I will be returning to the capital to see to that, and I thought it would be an auspicious start to the Tour.”

Modera crossed her arms. “Perhaps in service of your own reputation, Prince Arthas.”

“It seems, rather, at the expense.” All eyes in the room went to Kael’Thas, who was stroking his sharp chin. “Unless, Arthas, you don’t intend to do Dalaran, and the rest of the Alliance, proper service during your knighting ceremony?”

Arthas gave Kael a smile. “From one prince to another, my friend, believe me when I say I do all of this in favor of the Alliance.” His smile grew wider, and for a moment, it seemed like the Light began to gather around him. “My knighting is of scarce import compared to that, and I gladly offer up the occasion to raise the profile of the Alliance—and Dalaran’s contribution to it.”

Kael’Thas nodded. “That is sufficient for me.” He cast his glowing gaze around the room. “Or do any think to gainsay the prince’s words?”

There was not a one.

“Then, for the matter of envoy,” Kael’Thas continued, “it seems only natural, given the sheer number of apprentices attached to the expedition, to send an Archmage. I nominate myself. It shall be good to see home again.”

Subtly reminding the room that Quel’Thalas was the first destination, of course. From there, it didn’t seem like any of the other Archmages were willing to throw their own hats in the ring. After all, suggesting anyone else after a fellow member of the Six had stepped forward would be a bold insult.

“It seems that there are no objections.” Antonidas thumped his staff against the raised platform. “I had thought to suggest Rhonin Redhair, but I could think of no finer envoy to Quel’Thalas than you, my friend.”

Kael’Thas laughed. “Send Redhair as well, if you please. We already have quite the soiree.”