Ashaani woke to find a warm breakfast at her bedside. "Eat. We have a long way back to Stormwind." The man said watching her from a chair near the window. Her eyes wandered to the familiar voice. A voice she hadn't heard for a long time. "Varian?! What are you doing here? Where are we?" She asked. "Why are we going to Stormwind?" Her mind began to wonder as she tried to figure out where they were.
"You don't remember do you?" He asked her, moving from the chair to the bedside.
"Remember what?"
"Lordearon has fallen." Varian's eyes shifted to the window. "Arthas has disappeared. I found you wandering through the mountains there."
Varian's finger pointed and Ashaani's eyes followed. "I don't remember..." She said looking back to the fire. "The inn keeper said there is nothing but scourge up there. I was able to heal something inside of you but I'm only assuming that was from your exhaustion. You collapsed less than half way up."
Ashaani looked at her hands and felt her forehead for fever. "I feel fine. I just don't remember any of that happening." She said looking down at her hands again. "No one knows whats happened to Arthas..." She began. "Does that mean...?" Ashaani stopped. She didn't want to finish her sentence as Varian shook his head.
"No, it doesn't. But something's not right. Can you remember anything since you left Lordearon?" He asked her. Ashaani thought for a moment and shook her head. "No, the last thing I remember happening is his return home. I asked him what happened...he looked so different. His hair was white and his eyes looked so tired..." She looked at Varian once more. "And what did he say?"
The woman paused for a moment before she answered the question. "That it was from much war."
She hung her head almost in shame. "He killed many for the sake of protecting his people. He thought if he purged Stratholm we would be safe from the scourge. Uther and Jana left. They wouldn't see him do it." Ashaani closed her eyes as a single tear fell. "I stayed. I watched hundreds of people die and it was for nothing."
Varian put an arm around her. "That was not your decision. You stayed loyal to him and that is nothing to be ashamed of. He did what he thought was best for the greater good." In his heart Varian didn't agree with what Arthas had done either but lying for the sake of Ashaani's comfort was something he was willing to do. Still, he did not blame her for what happened that day and even he would give anything to have that loyalty. "You once said that if I ever wanted to come home...to Stormwind...I would always have a place with you there..."
Varian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That I did." He told her softly.
"Does that still stand?" She asked him hoping he would allow her to stay. She was alone and all she wanted right now was comfort from a friend who could understand what she was going through. Varian understood all too well and shook his head. "You can stay as long as you like."
She smiled up at him and put her arms around him, thankful to have such a friend.
"Eat. We have a great deal of travel ahead and this will be your only decent meal for a while."
Home 
Portal 
Rules 
Latest images 
Sun Nov 05, 2023 7:08 pm by Salya
Subject: A place to call home