THUNK.

Ask anyone in Theramore what they thought of their Lady and they would almost all say the same thing. At the very least, the praise for Jaina Proudmoore was damn near universal at this point. Not only had Jaina produced results beyond even the naysayers' wildest dreams, but she'd also led them all with a grace and poise befitting a Noble Lady and the daughter of Kul Tiras' Lord Admiral.

THUNK.

Even those who might have had negative things to say about her decisions to ally and then make peace with the orcs, tauren, and trolls, were forced to admit, rather begrudgingly, that she was a competent stateswoman and leader. The construction of Theramore Isle, a burgeoning island city that even now saw daily growth, was a testament to all of Lady Proudmoore's success.

THUNK.

Indeed, her greatest detractors could still acknowledge that Jaina comported herself with nobility in everything she did.

… Which is why it would probably confound and baffle any of Theramore's citizens if they were to see their ruler now. If they were to see the Lady Jaina Proudmoore slowly thumping her forehead into her desk in a rather undignified fashion, they would likely have wondered what was wrong, and more than that, what could possibly have happened to leave her in such a state.

Fortunately for Jaina's reputation and image as a competent, poised, and graceful ruler… there was no one else at the top of her tower save for her and one another. That didn't exactly make the human woman feel any better though, if she were being honest.

"Hooow? How could this happen?!"

A derisive snort comes from the only other woman in the room with her. Jaina's chamberlain shakes her head as she clasps her hands behind her back and tilts her head to the side consideringly.

"Well, Lady Proudmoore. If you need an explanation of how things work… when a boy and girl love each other very much, I'm given to understand that they come together and-!"

"Please stop t-talking!"

Letting out a whimper, Jaina waves a hand frantically in her chamberlain's direction. She doesn't bother to threaten to fire the other woman or anything like that. They don't exactly have that kind of relationship. No, in fact… Jaina's chamberlain isn't REALLY just her chamberlain at all. It was pretty wild but… well, Jaina's closest advisor these days, the woman who left her side so rarely… was in fact Aegwynn, former Guardian of Tirisfal.

The story of how that came to be was in and of itself a long and convoluted tale that ultimately culminated in Aegwynn trying to sacrifice herself in order to save Jaina's life and help her defeat some warlocks and their demon master. Ultimately, Aegwynn had survived even that, and Jaina had offered her a place in Theramore, which even now she was still shocked the Guardian had accepted.

Of course, right now Jaina was starting to regret offering Aegwynn that spot. Maybe then she wouldn't have a Guardian of Tirisfal herself snorting in dry amusement by her side.

"I don't know why you're so shocked, Jaina. Nor why you're acting like this is the end of the world. If you didn't want any… unintended consequences, perhaps you shouldn't have made a point to pay a visit to your orc boy toy the night before he left for Northrend. You used no small amount of magic to teleport yourself over to Astranaar and back again with none in Theramore save for myself knowing about it. And yet… you didn't think to perhaps avoid letting him ejaculate inside, hm?"

Jaina blushes profusely at Aegwynn's gentle chiding. Gentle, because really… the Guardian could have been a lot meaner about it. If anything, Aegwynn was being downright nice, despite her own vague distaste for orcs. It wasn't even anything personal as far as the older woman was concerned. No, she just disliked orcs because they'd been the pawns in her demonically corrupted son's evil plans over on the other side of Azeroth.

Regardless, Jaina lets out another groan and finally lifts her head from her desk, once again glancing at the results of the arcane spell floating in the air in front of her face. No matter how long she stares at them, they don't show anything else. And seeing as she's already performed the spell half a dozen times with the exact same results each and every time, she's pretty sure they're not going to change either.

She's pregnant. And Rognak is undeniably the father. Unless Night Elves have some sort of biological quirk that Jaina doesn't know about, Rognak is the ONLY one who could be the father. As if reading her mind, Aegwynn hums and pipes up again.

"You're quite sure that it's the orc who knocked you up, yes?"

Sputtering at the Guardian's crass language, Jaina nevertheless sheepishly nods her head.

"Y-Yes… Rognak is the only man I've been with for… quite some time."

As much as she and Shandris had… enjoyed their time together along with Rognak, Jaina was pretty sure that Shandris couldn't get her pregnant. And that left just Rognak.

"Right. Well, I suppose all that's left to do is inform the orc he's going to be a father."

Jaina groans and lets her head fall forward again.

THUNK!

"Do you think I haven't thought about that? I just… I'm not sure how to go about it, to be honest."

Making a curious noise in the back of her throat, Aegwynn hums.

"Not sure how to go about it? You just send him a message. Are you a mage or aren't you?"

Lifting her head, Jaina shoots a scowl in the Guardian's direction. Nothing quite like this conversation to diminish her overwhelming reverence for the older spellcaster.

"Of course! I'll just shoot him a spell! Never mind that I've never BEEN to Northrend and can't open a portal there… never mind that I have no idea whether he's in the middle of battle against the Lich King and the Scourge right now or what. No, I'll just fire off a spell missive and hope that it doesn't distract him at a critical juncture or leave him convinced that he has to return to Kalimdor immediately with the job half-done."

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Aegwynn raises an eyebrow at that.

"Is that really the excuse you're going with, Jaina?"

Blushing again, Jaina averts her gaze. Yes. Yes it was the excuse she was going with, thank you very much!

This whole situation… it was a mess. Not necessarily a bad one, but she still found herself in somewhat of a panic. Part of her had very much wanted to go on the expedition to Northrend if she were being honest. Arthas might be dead, but his master still lived… or whatever you would call the Lich King's corrupt, abominable existence.

The fact was, the Lich King was a problem that needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later. Jaina accepted that… just as she'd ultimately accepted that she would not be one of those who would be taking care of it. Her place was here on Kalimdor. More specifically, her place was in Theramore, helping to build the small, burgeoning Isle Nation into something that they could all be proud of.

Did she wish she could go running off on an adventure with Rognak and leave everything in the hands of others like High Priestess Whisperwind had done? Of course she did. But she couldn't. As much as Jaina trusted her Lieutenants, Theramore was at a critical juncture and needed all hands on deck. Not like the Night Elves and their ancient civilization, where capable subordinates like Broll Bearmantle and Shandris Feathermoon could be counted on to hold down the ship while Tyrande and Cenarius went gallivanting off to the frozen North.

In the end, it was a good thing she hadn't gone north. Rognak and the Northrend Expedition had been gone for over two months now, and Jaina would not like to imagine how she would feel if she found out about her condition up there in the frozen wastes, surrounded by who knew what sort of undead threats. Ultimately, it was for the best that she wasn't in Northrend right now.

That still left her rather uncertain of what to do, exactly. She was pregnant with Rognak's child. He deserved to know, preferably as soon as possible. But she didn't want to risk destabilizing his mental state at what might be a crucial moment in the Northrend Campaign. She didn't want to risk him losing his life because he was distracted by news of impending fatherhood.

And… admittedly, part of Jaina was scared. Scared that Rognak might already be lost. They'd had no contact since the fleet left. No word whatsoever. What if Rognak was dead? What if they'd failed? Obviously Jaina would want to know, to be able to prepare for the Lich King's eventual coming if nothing else. But… she was also afraid and not entirely certain that her heart could take it if Rognak was lost before even finding out he was to be a father.

"… You're going in circles, Jaina."

Startling, Jaina looks up at Aegwynn owlishly, the other woman having moved closer to place a hand on her shoulder. Giving it a comforting squeeze, Aegwynn sighs.

"So then. You've already decided you won't use magic to get in contact with your orc lover, for fear of risking his life. Fine. So why not just… write him a letter instead?"

Jaina slowly blinks at that.

"Write him… a letter?"

Rolling her eyes, Aegwynn waves a hand through the air.

"Obviously getting it to Northrend might not be in the cards… but you could send it to that new orc city to the north, yes? Orgrimmar, I think they're calling it? I believe your Chieftain and the Horde's Warchief are friends, are they not? Send a letter to Thrall for Rognak when he gets back, if you're that unwilling to contact the orc who put a bun in your oven directly."

Jaina flushes once again at Aegwynn… choice of words. The former Guardian of Tirisfal was downright irreverent when they were alone together. As Jaina's chamberlain, she was actually perfect at her job. As an advisor, she was an endless font of wisdom. But when it was just the two of them, Aegwynn did not bother censoring herself.

The younger woman suspected this was at least partially because of the respect and reverence that Jaina had shown her from the start. In the beginning, Jaina had addressed Aegwynn as 'Magna', and deferred to the more powerful and far more experienced spellcaster in all things. This had very much annoyed Aegwynn, to the point that she had dropped all semblance of civility and propriety when they were alone together.

Even still…

"That's… that's an excellent idea. If I write a letter and give it to Thrall to hand off to Rognak, then the moment Rognak returns, he'll be able to read it and come see me as soon as possible. Then… then we can talk."

"Mm."

Aegwynn hums at that, even as she pulls her hand from Jaina's shoulder and waves it nonchalantly. In a casual display of arcane power, the Guardian summons an inkwell, quill, and parchment, all three gently landing in front of Jaina for her to use. Jaina bites her lower lip, looking at the quill like it's a snake for a moment… but in the end, she snatches it up, dips it in the inkwell, and begins writing.

… Almost immediately she crumples up the first sheet of parchment and tosses it to the side. Fortunately, Aegwynn had had the foresight to float over an entire sheaf of parchment and Jaina is able to start in on the next attempt without delay.

"Too flowery…"

Smiling somewhat fondly at her charge, Aegwynn just shakes her head and steps away, leaving Jaina to it. Meanwhile, Jaina finds herself going through parchment after parchment, desperate to get the words right and finding it almost impossible. At the same time, her hand slides down beneath the desk, coming to rest on her abdomen.

She's not quite showing yet… but given the travel time to Northrend, Rognak and the Expeditionary Fleet might have only just made it to the northern continent, meaning that they were still a few months away from returning home, depending on how long their mission took them.

… By the time Rognak returned, Jaina would likely be visibly pregnant. The thought brings a smile to her face, because she knows deep down inside that Rognak will be excited to be a father. Hm… hopefully Shandris won't be too jealous? Unless the Sentinel General is hiding something from her, but Jaina doesn't think so. Then again… Jaina hasn't told Shandris just yet. She probably should.

Grimacing as she finishes the letter to Rognak and sets it aside, sealed and ready to be sent off to Orgrimmar, Jaina settles in to write Shandris a letter as well. And yes, sure, she could have just sent the Night Elf a magical missive and it probably would have been fine seeing as they were on the same continent… but Jaina was committed to this letter thing now.

Though… as she finishes Shandris' letter as well, Jaina finds herself hesitating to put the inkwell and quill away. There is… one more person who should be informed of Jaina's pregnancy. One more person who, above all else, deserves to know. Jaina doesn't know how they would react. Perhaps not very well. But even still… she doesn't think she could keep it from them. They had a right to know.

Letting out an explosive breath, Jaina settles in and writes a third and final letter. This one she doesn't spend a hundred attempts on. She can't quite bring herself to do so, even though it's perhaps the most important letter of the three. In the end, she goes with her first draft, signs and seals the damn thing… and then sends the letter off with a not inconsiderable arcane portal before she can second-guess herself.

"… What was that?"

Aegwynn's suspicious tone makes Jaina swallow nervously as she waves the Guardian away.

"Nothing. Just another bit of correspondence I decided to take care of while I'm writing. Nothing to be worried about."

The older woman hums at that, but doesn't pry any further, causing Jaina to let out a surreptitious sigh of relief.

… It would be fine. Probably. For now… Jaina gathers up the first two letters for Rognak and Shandris and turns to Aegwynn, holding them out. The Guardian raises an eyebrow, but Jaina just smiles sweetly.

"Chamberlain… if you would please ensure that these are both posted as soon as possible, I would greatly appreciate it."

After a moment, Aegwynn takes the letters and bows before turning to leave the room. Jaina feels a brief moment of triumph, like she actually got one over on the older woman… but just before she's gone, Aegwynn throws one final parting shot back over her shoulder.

"I see the mood swings are starting early, Lady Proudmoore. I'll be sure to make… allowances for any uncharacteristic behavior."

Jaina flushes red at that, ducking her head in embarrassment… but once Aegwynn is gone, she can't help the smile that spreads across her face as her hand returns to her abdomen. She was going to be a mother. Rognak was going to be a father.

She could hardly wait.