For all the servants’ industrious commotion at making the palace fit to receive guests, King Terenas found a strange serenity amongst the hubbub as the esteemed visitors arrived and he contemplated their differences.

Varian Wrynn, the young king of a rebuilding Stormwind, entered from a side hall into the throne room, having already arrived a couple of days before. An impressive figure fitting the ideals of a martial king, Varian exuded strength and confidence that gave him a stirring charisma, even with his oftentimes grim expression. His entourage followed after like elated soldiers heading into the battlefield, ever trusting of their commander.

Terenas exchanged pleasant nods with the young man, a busy man that had managed to take a break from his duties of personally pacifying and reclaiming his kingdom. Varian had apparently come north for a tour to reaffirm his friendship with the members of the Alliance. Stromgarde and Khaz Modan had already been visited, and only yesterday Terenas and Varian had shared casual pleasantries over dinner and some negotiations and agreements late into the night.

A lot of investment was required to restore Stormwind back to even a shadow of its old self, with various expensive matters like its razed capital city to the bandits and orcs infesting the lands. As a close ally, as oathed to the late Anduin Lothar, and as a friend of Varian, Terenas ensured that funding to rebuild the southern kingdom would never be compromised.

Lordaeron footed the majority of the aid, only because Magni had to prioritize rebuilding his own kingdom. Khaz Modan was still in second place though, as the dwarves had pledged to see Lothar’s home restored to honor his aid in liberating their own homes. Thoras would have likely done the same if Stromgarde wasn’t so devastated by the Horde, but as it was, rebuilding in that kingdom was slow due orc remnants drifting between Stromgarde and Lordaeron, as well as the forest trolls who were putting up a fierce fight in holding onto the captured land their involvement with the Horde had granted them.

It didn’t help that Thoras was being stubborn, Terenas personally thought, refusing all outside help and seemingly tried to live up to his name as he led his forces to exterminate the troll threat once and for all. There was no doubting the Stromgardians’ hardiness, but so much wasted time and lives could be avoided if the Trollbane would just allow the Alliance to aid him.

A great rapping on the great doors drew Terenas out of his thoughts, heralding the arrival of another Alliance headache.

Kyle Daelam, the youngest king of the Alliance, strode into the throne room with a minimal retinue in tow as usual. Unlike Varian, the young mage-king had an unreadable air about him, with whatever charm or intimidation being conjured on the spot rather than hanging about him like a cloak as with most other leaders.

Where Varian moved with the sureness of a skilled warrior, Kyle marched with the resolve of a hunter knowingly entering a beast’s territory. There was a wariness bordering on full-blown paranoia with his poorly concealed tenseness and the way his eyes studied what was before him. Yet Terenas couldn’t fully blame the boy, not after how he rose to the throne of Alterac and the still-frosty relationship between him and some of his neighbours.

“King Kyle Daelam, king of Alterac,” a herald formally introduced, and Kyle gave a formal bow to Terenas and then Varian. Terenas sighed as there was no mistaking the respect in the greeting when it was directed at Varian.

Kyle still held a bit of a grudge, it seemed.

“King Terenas. King Varian. ‘Tis a pleasure.”

Formalities were exchanged (without any snark from Kyle, mercifully), and then the king of Lordaeron invited his guests into a private study while the courtiers and hangers on continued the courtly games of courtesy.

“Your arrival is a most timely one, Kyle.”

The youngest king gave a nod. “Aye, I get to meet the king of Stormwind, and he doesn’t have to worry about losing his standing with the others by setting foot in Alterac.”

“I would be visiting your kingdom regardless of what others might think,” Varian replied with a frown. “I only meant-”

Kyle raised a hand to politely cut him off. “It’s just a joke.”

The frown faded just a little. “It’s not a good one,” came the blunt reply.

Kyle shrugged. “I’m a king, not a comedian.”

Varian nodded at that, and Terenas used the amicable pause to move the meeting on.

“Well then, I’m glad you came when you did, Kyle.” The eldest king gave Varian a look, and the latter quickly picked up on it by hardening his expression.

“Aye. I’ve just been told of matters in Stormwind that urgently require my attention. I’ll have to cancel the rest of my visit to the Eastern Kingdoms.”

“Messages have been delivered to the other realms, of course,” Terenas said softly. “They would understand. Even Genn.”

The frown spread to Kyle, who seemed focused for some reason.

“Politics or marauders?”

Varian paused for a second before answering. “The former. Some regions are threatening secession over certain…discontents.”

“Hm.”

Seeing the boy’s growing intensity, Varian waved off the topic. “It is an internal matter, one of many that I’ll deal with. There is much work still to be done for my kingdom.”

“Indeed,” Terenas added with a smile. “That you even made the attempt to come north is admirable enough. Nobody would fault you for having to attend to your duties.” The last sentence was subtly directed with a glance at Kyle, who seemed lost in thought. At least he was not throwing snide remarks yet.

“Hm? Yeah, yeah. Internal matters must be dealt with carefully.” He nodded distractedly as he replied, and then muttered off something unrelated.

“What’s the name again…”

Terenas and Varian exchanged looks at the boy’s sudden queerness, but the former shrugged to assuage the latter. The unsteady nature of a mage did not banish away when elevated to a king. If anything, that Kyle hadn’t been rumored to be creating magic circles in his court or letting demons run rampant was already defying expectations.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Varian cleared his throat. “Anyway, with your opportune visit here, I am hoping that we might establish some agreement between our kingdoms?”

That finally snapped Kyle out of his thoughts as he looked up and formed a casual smile. “Ah. Oh, sure. What would we be agreeing upon?”

Terenas sat back as the two young rulers began negotiating in earnest. His role now was to offer some mediation and suggestions in case their youth addled their offers and counteroffers with unrealistic demands or requests. Whatever his misgivings for Kyle, Terenas did want the mage-king to be a cooperative member of the Alliance.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem that his intervention would be required much. With their preference for straight talking, the two younger kings seemed to get along. That both shared similarities in their situation - young kings forced to take the throne and rebuild a kingdom - likely played a role as well in understanding each other.

A simple trade agreement was established in barely three sentences between the two rather straightforward kings. They then shook hands over docking rights and loaning Alterac mountaineering expertise to better exploit Stormwind’s mountain ranges.

Trouble only began to brew when it came to the matter of Kyle’s innovations.

“I’m glad you’re taking up the offer now,” he said after Varian began negotiating for cheaper access to the much-storied Alteraci tractors. “I guess we’ve had enough time to prove their worth to you?”

Confusion descended on Varian for a moment. “I have always expressed interest in the inventions. The kingdom simply could not afford to consider making the purchases up until now.”

Then it infected Kyle as well, who was regarding the older king with genuine puzzlement. “Purchase? I offered Stormwind a free trial of some of the tractors, but we were told that the machines were untested and their reliability was suspect.”

The air turned a little colder as the king of Stormwind straightened in his seat. “Is this another of your jokes?”

Kyle shook his head. “I’m not that bad a comedian. Look, verify it with Gnomeregan’s guild of engineers; I had them prepare an order for Stormwind.” The boy folded his arms as he leaned into his seat. “A big order, too. I paid it off with my future royalties. Then our envoy was given the rejection, so I transferred the tractors to Ironforge.”

Terenas nodded at that, remembering the report of the gift of machines to Magni. The dwarven king was already making deals with his gnomish neighbors for more of the machines after it was revealed that they could be easily converted for combat roles.

“I was informed that you would not budge on getting the gnomes to haggle for the price, and that the tractors had to be ordered in a minimum bulk.”

Kyle’s eyes narrowed for a quick moment before he shook his head. “Nope. I don’t recall anything like that. Again, the Gnomeregan engineers can testify to that. The group I have in Alterac were helping me with the back and forth with their guild on discussing how cheaply we can offer the tractors to Stormwind. We discussed it in my court too, so there’s plenty more witnesses and transcriptions of the meetings lying around… Actually, hold that thought.”

Kyle suddenly rose from his feet, glancing at Terenas at the last moment. “Is it rude if I used…magic now?”

The king of Lordaeron sighed. “If you are attempting what I think you are, then I will make an exemption.”

The boy gave a nod and then placed a small gilded gem on his seat. “Great. Give me a few minutes.” And then he was bathed in light, and then he vanished with a soft clap of air.

Terenas shook his head, already inured to the displays of his own court mages and those from Dalaran to care too much. Varian too wasn’t taken much aback by the vanishing act, though it seemed he was distracted by more pressing concerns.

“Do you think…”

Terenas sighed again. “For all his…eccentricities and bouts of antagonism, Kyle has proven to be trustworthy enough. He would not make such false claims so easily, especially as he is using his ties with Gnomeregan to back his word.”

Varian’s face morphed into an ugly scowl, as it narrowed down the possibilities of what led to this miscommunication.

Barely half a minute went by before the gem on the chair glowed, and another soft roar of air and flash of light heralded the return of Kyle. He promptly handed Varian a loose stack of parchment and paper, and Terenas caught the wrench and cog seal etched into the corners of a few of them. And again the king of Lordaeron sighed as his young counterpart from Alterac simply handed over official documents to another ruler.

“There, official missives on my end. Verify the seals with anyone from Gnomeregan.”

Varian only read through a couple of the sheets before handing the whole stack back to Kyle. “There is no need. I believe you, Kyle.” The severity of his expression was imposing, though knowing that the rage doubtlessly building within Varian was directed to other parties did make the atmosphere more awkward than dangerously tense.

“So either my messenger’s lazy or compromised and not doing the simple job of passing a message along…”

“Or someone kept your offer from me.” Varian finished coldly. “And lied to me to stop me from acquiring the tractors.”

“Or both.” Kyle added curtly, and then fell back to muttering. “Fucking can’t remember the name…”

The mood in the study room chilled as the young kings mulled over the whos and whys over what was clearly an attempt at sabotage.

“It seems that I will have to reschedule the rest of the afternoon, while you two discuss this delicate issue.”

“Yeah, we need to know whose head’s rolling, and more importantly how to reach them to get said head rolling.”

“Agreed.”

At least they hadn’t immediately jumped to accusing anyone just yet, though Kyle seemed like he had a clue on the perpetrator.

Terenas nodded and rose from his seat. “I’ll leave you two to it. For now, I’ll have to inform Calia-”

“That’s the sonofabitch!”

Terenas’ head whipped towards Kyle in shock and Varian’s eyes went wide at the sudden unseemly outburst. But before the old king could demand an explanation, Kyle was already looking at him excitedly.

“Terenas, do you remember the name of the fuckwad who almost conned you into marrying your daughter to him?”

The sudden question caught Terenas off guard, and he ended up answering out of sheer confusion. “Daval Prestor…? But-”

“Prestor?” Varian suddenly asked, and Kyle was directing a triumphant grin his way.

“Yeah, that’s the one. You know a Prestor, right?”

Surprise flashed across Varian’s face as he regarded Kyle. “Lady Katrana Prestor leads the House of Nobles…”

Terenas blinked. Could it be a coincidence?

“King Terenas, not to insult or shame, but could you enlighten King Varian about what Daval Prestor did?”

Seeing the certainty in the boy’s gaze, Terenas obliged, and gave a summary of the very nearly successful attempt of the charlatan ‘Lord’ Daval Prestor in securing rule of Alterac for himself, with ties to Lordaeron through royal marriage with Calia. He’d somehow charmed everyone - even Genn Greymane - and had them agreeing with him right up until the last moment, when he abruptly vanished without a trace.

As he listened to the sorry tale, Varian’s scowl grew harsher and harsher. “You think that Katrana Prestor and Daval Prestor are related, that she has designs of her own?”

Kyle gave a shrug. “I can’t offer anything yet. Not without solid proof. But I know a few people who might be interested to help…”

The older king nodded. “I will have to figure out a means of contacting you securely.”

“Eh, it’s no matter. Terenas, could I get another exemption later today?”

“I suppose it can’t be helped.” It was highly concerning that Daval Prestor might have relatives that share the same insidious blood. Leaving Kyle and his mage accomplices to deal with the matter might be for the best, especially if they can achieve it swiftly.

“Great. Now, I suppose we’ll have to come up with a cover story to minimize the chances of letting her know that we know? Maybe make it look like we’ve been screaming at each other over the conflicting claims like childish fools or something…”

Terenas rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be so melodramatic.”

It didn’t, but that was what Varian and Kyle ultimately went with. Terenas’ sigh was genuine in exasperation as they sold a heated argument, along with generous thumping of furniture and walls.

Kyle also used the faux disagreement to vanish away again, under the pretense of returning to Alterac rather than enduring his Stormwind counterpart’s presence any longer. He came back in the evening, bearing discreet news that Katrana Prestor would be investigated shortly after Terenas put on a show of having the two young kings reconcile with each other.

It did not bode well to see the faint smirk on Varian as they parted for their respective guest rooms. The Alliance might not survive two kings who had a penchant for theatrics.

*****

“First the vermin thinking they can hide away from us, and now the spawn of my traitorous brother. This mortal of yours is most curious, little Vasyrgos.”

Vasyrgos bowed as he tried to formulate an appropriate response to Malygos’ praise. In the end, words failed him, though his liege was too busy casting an elaborate spell to notice.

“It seems that dear Alextrasza has been notified through Korialstrasz, and will be notifying the others well. Ah, it’s only been so recently that we’ve come together, and here we’ll be doing another excursion. So much fun. So much fun indeed, little Vasyrgos.”

The spell went off, and a mountainside was sheared neatly away, causing it to slowly collapse onto the demonic encampment camouflage underneath. The fel servants of the Burning Legion were buried under tons of rock and ice, before a series of spells from other dragons bombarded the area at extreme ranges. In a matter of minutes, another Burning Legion infestation was cleared without their victims knowing what hit them.

Malygos then turned to another dragon, offering her a laconic nod.

“I suppose I can leave this extermination to others. Saragosa, continue this fun on my behalf.”

“As you will, my love,” the consort replied in an amused tone, and then took to the skies to command the dragonflight.

The Aspect of Magic watched her go with a wistful smile, and then let out a rumbling sigh. “Come then, little Vasyrgos. It’s time for a family intervention. Who knows what sort of mischief Deathwing’s brood might have hidden in their wings.”