With the dark news of Quel’Thalas suffering a demonic outbreak adding to the fates of Gilneas and Stromgarde, the court of Kyle Daelam had quickly come to a unanimous consensus that Alterac was now effectively in a defensive war against multiple threats. Evacuations would begin for outlying settlements, ranger patrols would monitor the more rough approaches for surprise trespassers, the training of the troops would be accelerated, and mines and farmlands were primed for complete denial against enemy capture.

The representatives of Khaz Modan and Gnomeregan returned to their homelands by sea to relay the seriousness of rapidly escalating events. With news of dragons coming to Quel’Thalas’ aid, the elven ranger-captains were convinced to remain within the kingdom and lead the Alteraci rangers. The recently settled-in Wildhammer dwarves were also sent back to Aerie Peak to spread the news to the clans and hopefully get them to strengthen their own borders.

Courtesy between allies was dismissed as the young king ordered his court mage to conduct unrestrained scrying on neighboring Stromgarde for their troop movements. Pelton joined him when he was able to, having to take up the heavy role of the royal steward to manage the kingdom as Kyle disappeared to conduct his own secretive preparations.

Jaina had a guess as to where he might have teleported to, but kept it to herself. She was busy finishing up on negotiating with the various murloc villages on Kyle’s behalf. With her own understanding of their gibberish language far from acceptable, Kallum served as her translator to warn the fishmen of the impending threats, while also securing their services as coastal and river guards.

A simple bonfire communication was set up to provide the murlocs means to warn the nearest watchtower or fort of any incoming danger, while some of the kingdom’s excess weapons (almost exclusively the damaged or neglected ones that haven’t been repaired) were distributed throughout the villages.

Jaina honestly didn’t know how to feel about arming the murlocs, as well as knowing that they would serve as one of Alterac’s first line of defense.

She also didn’t know how to feel knowing that she actually chose putting up with murlocs as her defense for staying in Alterac.

Kyle had at first insisted that Jaina immediately take a ship back to Kul Tiras to warn her father the lord admiral, and also because ‘it was safer there’. She had emphatically refused, not wanting to leave when everyone around her was readying for war. She would not abandon Kyle when he most needed her help.

“You need my help,” she’d countered, meeting Kyle’s and Pelton’s stares with stubborn determination. “I might not have the arcane power or expertise as Pelton or Valoghan, but I can still be of use. The four of us here are virtually all of Alterac’s spellcasters.”

“But prin-”

“She’s right,” Valoghan endorsed over Pelton’s protest with a curt nod. “Foreign princess or not, she is a talented mage, and we’ll need those when the time comes.” He laconically turned his gaze at the steward. “Krasus might be able to get Dalaran to send some help over, but even then having one more spellcaster who’s familiar with the kingdom would be highly useful.”

Kyle had seemed ready to protest some more, but then Jaina had enough and immediately played the regretful card.

“You’ll need someone to talk to your murlocs,” she suddenly blurted, and quickly steeled herself to meet his gaze. “Or are you just going to leave it all to Kallum to handle it?”

Kyle frowned. “Valoghan could…” And even Pelton looked skeptical about that.

“You need him for more important work,” Jaina countered. “I can focus on securing them to do whatever it is you want.”

“You’ll still need Kallum to do the talking.”

“And you still need me for the damned cat oil.”

The novice and the mage-king engaged in a staredown before both Valoghan and Pelton interceded. After a little more convincing, Kyle eventually conceded.

“Fine,” he’d sighed. “But if you’re staying, then you’re a court mage under Valoghan, and under my command. You will heed my orders, and my orders only. You will not take liberties by assigning yourself anywhere without my knowledge or permission. No reckless heroics, no bright ideas.”

Jaina had easily nodded to the terms, unfazed in the slightest by Kyle’s stern words. She saw the naked concern in his eyes, but also knew that she couldn’t let his fear for her safety handicap the kingdom’s defense.

In hindsight, that he prioritized her safety was somewhat flattering, and Jaina noted the fact that Kyle hadn’t pressed the issue any further after that, nor did he just teleport her away. Either out of respect or resignation, he had allowed her to stay, and Jaina found herself glad at that fact.

So she bore the stench of cat essence and did her job, and as the days passed noted how quickly Alterac geared for war when she returned to the palace to file her own updates. The dwarves and gnomes that did not return home converted just about the whole artisan’s district into a collection of workshops that crashed and blazed with industry to churn out more spears, repeater bows and other needs the soldiery might require.

More and more people poured into the capital city and its environs, occupying parks and squares with hastily built hovels and huts, while nearby villages also expanded from the influx. According to Pelton, it was a constant battle by Lady Cylia, the Overseer of Development, to redistribute the incoming refugees and prevent dense slum areas from appearing.

There was a constant stream of messengers, be they human or pigeon, providing updates on the outer regions of Alterac. While Valoghan and Pelton did scry and fuss over a buildup of Stromgardians near the border, there still hasn’t been much activity despite Kyle and his court’s fears after the reports of demons in Quel’Thalas. What little Valoghan could see showed Gilneas to be quiet as well. There was still no coordinated assault from all sides, no great invasion of demons and corrupted men. At least not immediately.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With her meetings with the murlocs done with, Jaina had to content herself in aiding Valoghan with lesser, more mundane spellwork. “You do not have the experience yet to conduct remote viewing safely,” the hermit mage had bluntly told her. “In a hostile environment, the dangers of counter-detection can be lethal if the enemy is capable.”

Knowing better than to press the issue, Jaina contented herself with only helping the court mage in maintaining his scrying wards and ritual circle. Despite the repetitive tedium, she learned to appreciate the intricacies of preparing countermeasures against countermeasures. Valoghan was thorough to the point of paranoia, warding his chamber with illusory veils to misdirect anyone who tried tracing his scrying and somehow managed to slip past the magic barrier.

There were also elaborate glyphs that were basically mana fuses, which the mage channeled his spells through and would theoretically safely sever him from his spell in case of magical feedback or overload. “I haven’t exactly been in a position to see it work in the field before,” Valoghan had admitted to Jaina and an intrigued Pelton, “but the theory is sound, and loath as I am to admit, Kyle’s paranoia is valid…”

“His concerns, you mean,” Pelton politely corrected as he studied the glyphs. “But yes, I can see how this might be useful against some of the less esoteric scry-traps. It is efficient, at the very least.”

Jaina learned a lot about the dangers of various remote viewing methods as the two magi fell into the distraction of discussing that topic. With how they casually brought up and debated or conceded points, it almost reminded her of the more immersive lectures or forums in Dalaran’s Academy of Arcane Sciences.

The thought sent a sudden pang of nostalgia in the princess, and she briefly entertained the idly thought of where she might be placed now if she had remained back there. Learning alongside a whole classroom of students was nice, now that she thought about it. And so too were the peaceful moments in the Academy’s great libraries. Perhaps she’d be approached by a magi for her apprenticeship? Or would she be preparing herself to pester various archmagi into taking her in?

As idyllic as the notion was, Jaina also understood that it truly couldn’t make up for the experiences she’d gained in Alterac - yes, even the damned murloc’s cat oil. Plus Kyle was here…whenever he was around, anyway. His courting skills were rough, but Jaina didn’t mind the quiet moments in the garden with him, or the rare times they could sit together in his study room to enjoy some light reading.

She was about to complain about the lack of such encounters in recent days when Kyle suddenly returned to the palace. Jaina was taking notes on the intricacies of Valoghan’s viewing spell when the mage-king entered the chamber late in the evening, with Pelton and other advisors running after him. The court mage’s concentration didn’t waver at the sudden intrusion, managing to look away from the shimmering viewing portal to offer a curious glance at his king whose eyes were glowing.

“Va…loghan. Still no enemy movement?”

“None that marches towards us yet.”

“Can you switch your view towards Stromgarde City?”

Valoghan frowned at the request. “Has something occurred?”

Jaina recalled the last attempts they had of scrying the capital, there was only evidence of Fel energies, but nothing concrete enough to present as evidence to the rest of the Alliance. Pelton had been vocally annoyed about the fact that the Trollbane dynasty’s reputation among its neighbors was strong enough that ‘baseless accusations’ would not be enough, even with Galen closing off Stromgarde’s borders. To the rest of the world, even with the claims of demons taking the guise of Stromgardian merchants, the supposed poisoning of Thoras Trollbane was a tragedy that warranted his son’s heavy-handedness with little suspicion.

Strangely enough, High Thane Falstad of Aerie Peak had believed Kyle’s claims readily enough, likely owing to the fact that he was acquainted with Archmage Krasus somehow. Varian too seemed to be of the same mind, though still being heavily occupied with restructuring Stormwind, his voice currently carried little weight in the Alliance.

With a faint grin, Kyle nodded at his court mage. “Just be mindful about your wards.”

After a moment’s thought, Valoghan shrugged and did as his king suggested. The ritual circle around him and the wards etched into the walls of the chamber lit up a little as Jaina noticed the contents of the viewing portal rapidly shift.

“In the gardens behind their royal palace,” Kyle guided, and it took a second before Valoghan froze with widened eyes.

“Can you confirm it?” Kyle asked.

The mage nodded, taking a while to form words. “I…yes.” He noticed Jaina’s confusion, and that of the others who had joined Kyle, and for their convenience expanded the scrying portal so they could partake in the viewing as well.

It took a moment for her to register what she was seeing, but once Jaina understood that she was looking straight down into a grand garden, and that the small shapes were the top-down view of a person’s head and shoulders, things became much clearer. There was an assembly of a few dozen figures, and Jaina assumed that one particular figure with a glint of gold around his head was Galen. Some had halos of green fire, but it was not what had ultimately drawn her attention. Instead, it was the larger figure that the others were congregating around.

Not only was it larger, but it had added shapes to it that highlighted it from the rest of the crowd. There were two wide attachments to its back, one on either side of its shoulder.

Wings. Large ones.

Two protrusions from its head further confirmed its identity.

With how its arms with long, clawed fingers rose and gestured, the dreadlord was clearly addressing the nobility of Stromgarde in some grandiose speech.

“Could you get a better view?” Kyle suddenly asked.

Valoghan shook his head. “Not unless you wish to abandon discretion.”

“Hm. Would this be enough to serve as proof?”

“That would likely depend on how humans interface with reality.”

The back of Jaina’s mind noted the queerness of the court mage’s phrasing, but she was too preoccupied with the current scene of kneeling figures around the demon to understand the significance. The dreadlord reached out with its clawed hand towards Galen, and the king of Stromgarde became wreathed in a halo of green fire without any signs of discomfort. He then rose to turn and face the rest of the congregation, and then raised an arm.

“But this is more than enough for us,” Pelton said gravely. “Proof positive of Stromgarde’s rulers consorting with demons.”

“So, we have our justification?” Kyle asked with unusual excitement. It was like he was a bit too eager…

Yet at the same time, Jaina also saw the vindictive glee in his steward’s nod. “More than acceptable justification for a preemptive attack; just as Thoras Trollbane marched against Aiden Perenolde before, you have uncovered enough of this conspiracy to march against Galen Trollbane.” So the steward seemed to be reveling in the irony?

“If only we had the manpower for it,” Marshal Colin sighed, his eyes still locked with disgust onto the figures cheering around the green-illuminated Galen.

Kyle’s excitement only grew. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Can’t risk good Alteraci folk against demon worshippers…”

“You’re going there by yourself?” Pelton asked, suddenly weary, and Jaina could sympathize as she could guess what Kyle might have in mind.

The mage-king flashed a grin at his steward and the other shocked faces. “Who says I’m going alone?”

Jaina bit back the urge to sigh, and almost regretted her resolve to stay here.