A Tale of Two Princes | By : coolwHip Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 3275 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
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Belorei was quiet, almost sullen on the ride to Silvermoon. His mother had relented about the robe after seeing that it was too tight for him – thank the Sun! He'd fallen to mechanically packing for their journey. Honestly he just wanted to sleep forever and forget about his mother and the regent lord, but they needed to get on the road to Silvermoon.
Lor'themar convinced them that it would be best to fly dragonhawks from the village and then he could have hawkstriders brought for them to ride through the city. Their own dragonhawks they could leave at the village inn to be cared for.
“It wouldn't be appropriate at all for the Regent and the Prince to be seen walking.” He told Ashtara, who nodded in agreement.
“Will you have a guard alongside us?”
“Minn'da,” Belorei rolled his eyes but she huffed.
“It's no problem,” Lor'themar waved a hand. “Some of the guard will accompany me when I show up at the gates regardless.”
As they flew through Eversong, Belorei lost himself in thought.
He needed to make a good impression.
It seemed to Belorei that Kael'thas had found the key to gaining respect from his people; magic. If he, Belorei, could become a great mage, he would earn the respect of the sin'dorei. He would have to show himself to be more than a simple ranger.
Soon they were landing and Belorei felt his stomach turn as the ground rushed toward them. Taking a deep breath, he was relieved to be on the ground again. Lor'themar called a passing ranger over and soon three hawkstriders were brought. The three of them then rode through Silvermoon.
A crowd had gathered by the time they arrived in the Court of the Sun and people turned to point and whisper when he arrived with Lor'themar.
"Who is that boy?”
His cheeks flushed. His mother had insisted he wear something finer than ranger gear so he was wearing a silk shirt and his nicest jacket along with black pants and boots. He wondered if it was too much black, though the jacket did have red and gold embroidery. Ashtara smiled a little, glancing at her son. Belorei noticed that she kept adjusting her dress and smoothing her hair.
"Excuse us please," Lor'themar said, tugging his hawkstrider forward and the crowd parted before him. Several of the guards came hurrying down to hold back the crowd.
"Make way!" One shouted. "Make way for the Regent Lord."
Belorei rode through the crowd, glancing at some of the faces and saw people whispering to one another.
The whispering turned slightly vicious like a chill wind through the city's towers and Belorei frowned slightly. Ashtara kept her chin up and smiled wryly. Eight years and most of the people of Anasterian's court gone and the rumor mill still rolled downhill when she appeared.
"By the gods she's fine," an elf in fine robes muttered, then wolf whistled and she rolled her eyes.
Belorei followed Lor'themar's example and dismounted at the entrance of Sunfury Spire. So this would be his home now... His eyes looked up into the graceful towering ceiling of the throne room. The throne itself...he spotted it now; a cushioned seat raised up on a circular platform, graced with silky drapes and a strange orb on it. What was that orb for? Did it give his father some kind of 'eye' or presence here?
A guard gleefully helped Ashtara down from her hawkstrider and she gave him a smile in return that caused the man to sputter slightly and step back, blushing, returning to his fellows in line. (They gave him raised eyebrows and shook their heads) His mother stood by his side, pride swelling in her eyes. This was the day she had both dreamed of and dreaded.
"My love, this is your home now," she said quietly to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He forced a weak smile to his lips for a moment.
"Come my Prince," Lor'themar motioned and they followed him into the throne room. Halduron Brightwing and Rommath waited, brows raising.
"Well that took a while," Halduron smirked. The Regent Lord glared at him, and Halduron dropped the smirk. Rommath was smirking under the kerchief over his face at the two, but bowed to Belorei. Halduron followed suit.
"Welcome back, Prince Belorei."
'Prince Belorei...' the Sunstrider heir blanched at the title but he bowed back out of habit.
"Thank you," he smiled a little.
"So he has decided to return to us" Rommath said, glancing at Lor'themar who nodded. The Grand Magister had grimaced at the Prince's inappropriate bow.
"Prince Belorei wishes to speak with his father."
Rommath lifted his brows. "Well -I don't know about speak, but we will do what we can to get a message to him." Rommath was eyeing Belorei in a way that made him nervous; a strange glimmer to his eyes. The youth glanced back to see his mother stepping up beside him.
"Lady Ashtara," Halduron chirped and grinned. "It's been a long time."
"That it has," she laughed.
"Why?" Rommath said and everyone became quiet. The Grand Magister glanced at the Prince who turned puce. "Why did you hide?”
"I am all he has and he respects that I wished to protect him," Ashtara put a hand on her son's shoulder.
“Why don't you let the boy speak?” Belorei glared at Rommath, not liking his tone.
"I will speak, but I ask you not be hostile to my mother." As soon as the words left his mouth, his heart was in his throat. Had he just... and to the Grand Magister?
Rommath eyed Belorei quietly.
"I do not wish to be hostile, my Lord... I am merely confused as to why she hid you for so long and why you permitted it."
"It was my understanding," Belorei said as his mother opened her mouth to speak and she blushed and slipped her hand from his shoulder. "As I've told you before, that I was not a legitimate heir, and so to save myself or our King any embarrassment, I remained silent.”
"Yet you know now that your mother lied," Rommath said smoothly and the young elf was irritated and disturbed at the cold smugness in his eyes. "Why did you lie to him, Lady Ashtara?"
"I wished to protect him, Grand Magister" Ashtara sneered. "If you can't believe that, I don't know what else to tell you."
"What were you protecting him from?" the Ranger General spoke up. Halduron Brightwing was a fairly handsome elf with surprisingly perfect skin for such an experienced ranger, Belorei thought. There were a few scar lines here and there but he wondered if they'd been tidied up with magic.
"Certain members of the Magisterium, when Belorei was little, attempted to take his life."
Belorei's eyes widened, but he said nothing, embarrassed that he had shown any surprise. Rommath had definitely noticed, he thought bitterly. Lor'themar was nodding.
"I do remember," the Regent Lord said. Ashtara scoffed and threw her hands up.
"Then why, my Lord, were you surprised when I told you this at my cabin?"
"Your cabin?" Halduron looked amused. "You have been living in a cabin, Ashtara?"
"Hush," she glared at him. "You are still my cousin, Halduron; Ranger General or no. I'll take no lip from you." Her eyes glimmered with amusement and the Ranger General grinned slowly. He laughed and grasped her hands.
"Ashtara..."
"Oh don't get sentimental,” she smiled. “It is good to see you though.”
Belorei stared at her with his jaw dropped for a moment.
“Cousin?”
Halduron looked at him in surprise, then frowned at Ashtara.
“I'm sure I mentioned it before,” she blushed.
“I don't remember it,” Belorei's brows furrowed. A small chip of anger was added to the building mass in his chest. Not only had she lied to him about his legitimacy but all this time she was related to a Ranger General? He could have trained with Brightwing or among the best!
"Why did you hide yourself away, cousin? You know I would have done anything to help."
"You would not be Ranger General if you had to spend all of your time worrying about Kael'thas' son, would you?" she teased.
"Does that mean I cannot be Regent Lord?" Lor'themar joked and the three of them smiled a little. Belorei did not smile and noticed Rommath was not smiling either- he was eyeing Ashtara with suspicion.
"You're going to be exhausted," Ashtara smiled. "If you aren't already, my Lord."
Belorei cringed at the silence that followed. Halduron glanced at the Regent Lord with a raised brow, then Rommath and Halduron glanced at eachother. Rommath glared at Ashtara for a moment, then noticed Belorei watching him again, and it pleased the younger elf to note that his gaze made the Grand Magister uneasy.
"Let us make our Prince and Lady Ashtara comfortable," Lor'themar said quietly.
"Of course," Ashtara said, with definite heat in her tone and Belorei wanted to pinch her arm hard. But he fumed inside, showing his embarrassment only in scarlet cheeks.
They were led into a large lounge room where all five sat down – Lor'themar and Halduron on the ends of a sofa, Ashtara in a chair, Belorei on a second sofa, and Rommath at the end of it. He watched his mother smooth out her dress and she smiled at him in a way he had not seen before; there was a coyness in her eyes. He smiled back a little and looked away and he knew that she could tell something was bothering him.
“Are you all right Belore dorei?”
Damn her for asking him in front of everyone! They all looked to him now. It seemed his breathing was audible to himself and had to be to everyone else in the room.
“I'm fine,” he said, projecting calmness. “It's just been a long morning.”
Halduron laughed. “I bet it has! You should have seen our faces, Ashtara when we realized who he was.”
“When I realized who he was. You had no idea what was going on,” Lor'themar teased and the Ranger General lifted an eyebrow at him. Belorei smiled at their closeness. He'd heard the Regent Lord and the Ranger General had been friends for decades. Still, their interaction seemed strained somehow. Rommath was watching him again and he tried to keep his legs from jiggling. It was a habit of inactivity that he'd had since he was younger.
“So...only fifteen years old,” Rommath noted. Belorei's teeth gritted – what did he mean by that? The young elf nodded.
“Yes Grand Magister.”
“I don't remember that age,” Halduron huffed.
“Well you wouldn't, old as we are.”
“Old! You're old! I'm not old...”
“I am not much older than you.” Rommath lifted a brow.
“You act much older.”
Ashtara smiled at their exchange and glanced at her son. He forced a smile, but inside he didn't want to look at her. Rommath was still watching him so he looked back at the magister.
“How much do you know about your father, Prince Belorei?”
The question silenced everyone else, the mirth of the Regent Lord and Ranger General forgotten. Ashtara had a guarded look reminding Belorei of a hawk.
“What do you mean, Grand Magister?”
“You may call me Rommath,” the man huffed. “Being that you are our King's son, of course.”
“You don't believe he is?” Ashtara snapped.
“Now now,” Lor'themar said quietly. Rommath glared at him.
“Well, other than his looks, we have no proof.”
“You yourself said-”
“I know what I said. But now I look at the boy and of course I see Ashtara. I may not have been sure I saw Kael'thas. Should we not prove it?” he raised his voice at the end as Halduron groaned.
“Do you think this some sort of trick?” Theron lifted a brow.
“It could be, for all we know. She may have other children. It may not even be Ashtara.”
There was an uncomfortable silence and Belorei sighed quietly.
“There's one way to settle this for sure,” his mother said with a small smile. “Unfortunately the paternus is not here so we can't use a blood check. But a truth potion and a little interview ought to settle this, no?”
“Oh?” Rommath tilted his head and Belorei didn't like the feral look his eyes had taken. “Are you volunteering Lady Ashtara?”
“I see no reason why not,” Ashtara replied. “If it would silence any who are skeptical, Grand Magister.”
“Please, call me Rommath,” he sneered. “I detest formal titles when unnecessary. You are familiar enough – I see no reason why we cannot be casual.” His emphasis on 'familiar' caused Belorei's muscles to tense.
“Of course,” she laughed lightly, shrugging. “By all means, let us get this unpleasantness out of the air.”
“Very well,” Rommath waved a hand and a vial of potion appeared. Lor'themar scoffed. “As it happens, I have a truth potion on me.”
“How surprising,” Halduron rolled his eyes. Rommath shot him a glance but said nothing.
“If you would please, Lady Ashtara,” he rose and handed it to her. “I hope you know what you are doing.”
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