For the Whored

She ran all the way there. She stopped at his door and panted. Pushing back her hair she knocked softly. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a movement, but it disappeared when he opened the door.

"I was starting to worry you'd changed your mind." He kissed her.

"I got... delayed." She laughed. "Sorry, I meant to come sooner, but you know how distracted I am."

"Elunara tells me you can lock on to your books so hard, that anything can go on around you and you not notice."

She blushed. "Yeah."

"Did you ask Elunara about a floor plan?"

"A what?" She blinked.

"To build a house?"

"Oh. OH! You're serious about that?" She considered. Shaking her head she dumped the dirty clothes in the pile. "No, but I did find something interesting."

"What?"

"Ah, damn it, I left the pages on Elunara's desk." She sighed. "Anyway, going through Elunara's drawings, I found Kathleen in some of Elunara's pictures of Stormwind."

He blinked at her. "I'll be damned."

"If I remember the dates correctly, the picture is almost six years ago."

"That's slightly terrifying."

She shivered. "I think I was followed."

Now he was incensed. "What?"

"They vanished when you opened the door."

He wrapped his arms around her. "You're safe now."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I am."

Kathleen smashed the vase against the wall. "That stupid bitch!" She stomped on the broken shards.

John held the ice pack to his head and winced. He had been sleeping off the hangover, when Kathleen had stormed in. "You knew she'd go back."

"Just because he had her once, doesn't mean she gets to do it again."

John decided pointing out that it was more than once, was just plain stupid.

"She will NOT keep MY husband away from me!"

He also decided that arguing semantics with Kathleen was impossible. "Sis, we'll figure it out."

She paced back and forth. "The rumor isn't spreading fast enough. What is wrong with this stupid town, that a rumor takes so damned long to spread?!" She tossed a random breakable thing against the wall.

"No one wants to say anything bad against Elunara. They're damned terrified of her already."

"But WHY?" Kathleen growled. "She's just some dumb whore that services the men. Everywhere else in the universe she'd be reviled and rejected, not allowed to come out with the common folk."

John winced and sighed. "Elunara is a power all her own. You want to know why, you go talk to her."

"Maybe I will!" She stopped and cocked her head to the side. "Maybe I will..." She murmured.

Captain Jordan was pleased to see that General Renwa was in his office first thing in the morning. He raised an eyebrow at Zelinnia, sitting at her desk, neatly going through paperwork. "Sir." Captain Jordan Saluted.

"At ease."

"Sir, the new aqueduct is coming along according to schedule, but there's a land dispute to the east of it."

"With?"

"Our men and the... locals."

"I assume you use the term loosely."

"Since they're what we believe are the origins of the spore people, yes."

"Fun. See if there are any wandering adventurers nearby before dispatching our men."

"Understood." Captain fidgeted. "Sir, good to see you back on track."

Renwa laughed at the closed door. "A couple of days off, and suddenly I'm derailed."

She grinned at him. "Well, I enjoyed derailing you. Maybe we can do it more often."

He started to stand, but there was a knock on the door. "Enter!"

Both stared in shock at the woman in the large yellow sun bonnet.

"Oh, General Renwa, I..." She froze as she stared at Zelinnia.

Zelinnia hoped that her expression gave away nothing, but she knew without a doubt, what white hot hate looked like. She had seen that expression before, on Elunara's face. When it was turned on her, she felt ice cold.

The woman tore her face away and fluttered a fan in front of her. She acted as if she would swoon.

Swallowing a sigh, Renwa pulled forth a chair. "Please, sit."

"Oh, General. I'm so sorry." She fluttered her fan. It's just so hot today, but I needed to come."

"And what may I help you with?" He smiled.

"You see, it's my brother... I think he's come down with something."

"Has he now?"

She fluttered her fan and dabbed a hanky on her bone dry forehead. "Yes, he's just something ill. I don't know what to do about it. You see..." She fluttered her hands. "I've never been very healthy, always needing someone to care for me." Another fanning. "It's just so difficult for me to get around on my own." The hanky went to her lips. "Now that he's ill, I just don't know what to do for myself." A lesser man would have said her movements were timid as she placed a hand on his chest, head tilted up.

Though the bonnet blocked most of what was going on, Zelinnia had seen enough to roll her eyes and propped her chin in her hand.

"I was just hoping that you would see to it. I just didn't know who else to ask." She whimpered.

"I'll see to it myself." He nodded in agreement.

"You will?" She almost squeaked it.

"Yes, I shall have Ina herself see to your brother's condition."

"You..." Her eyes flew opened and her body language changed. "What?"

"I shall contact Grogek, have John's activities postponed until Ina declares him well."

Kathleen held out her hand. "Oh, that's not necessary, we... we can handle on our own. I just." She scrambled through her brain. "I just know that I need help. From one that... who can help me carry on with the day to day, while I nurse my brother." She fluttered her lashes.

"I'm certain Ina can recommend a suitable helper."

"Oh. Oh!" She put her hand to her mouth, "But how will I know I have the best? I mean, I... I was hoping..." Her breath got sulky. "I was hoping YOU could help me."

He shook his head. "Out of the question. I have too much to do here. In fact, I'm going out of my way to even send for Ina or to contact Grogek. I'll just have to carve this small moment of time for you." He turned. "Zelinnia, can you handle things for me while I go get Ina?"

"Oh, don't..." Kathleen winced.

Zelinnia straightened up. "Yes, sir." She answered, unsure of where he was going with this one.

"Good. I like having a woman I can rely on to get things done." He took Kathleen by the arm and practically hauled her up. "Come; let's see to your brother."

The door closed and Zelinnia snorted. She broke into giggle fits.

Kathleen fluttered her fan and clung to Renwa's arm. "Oh, but sir..." She simpered. "I wish we could walk like this all the time." Again with the lashes.

"I wouldn't, it'd get sweaty after awhile."

She blinked in shock. "That's...not..." She stopped and smiled at someone who was staring. The fan flapped, the lashes fluttered, and the smiles were wildly given.

Even if he had no clue what she was up to, he's find her highly annoying. Now, she was just insulting.

"Oh, look, we're here." He practically shoved her into the door of the healing building.

Ina gave him a dirty look. "What in blazes are you doing?"

Renwa looked very stern, but slipped in a wink. "Ina, this young woman's brother is ill and she needs your help. She claims she is unable to care for herself on her own. Please recommend her a care giver. I need to get back to my duties."

Ina blinked at him and gave him a look of "we'll talk later".

He dislodged himself from the woman.

"Oh, but General."

"Sorry, that's all the time I have today." He gave her a courtly bow, before heading back to his office."

When the door opened, Zelinnia stopped giggling. Seeing Renwa alone, the giggle continued.

"That was kind of fun." He grinned.

A knock on the door had them straightening.

"Enter!" he called.

Elunara stuck her head in. "I heard giggling..." She grinned.

"Oh, it wasn't that." Zelinnia rolled her eyes. "Bonnet made a grand entrance, only to spot me and get off her game. She got shuffled out the door by General Renwa."

Elunara smirked. "Is that so?"

"Yes, apparently her "dear brother" is sick, and she wanted MY help in taking care of her until he was well." He rolled his eyes.

Elunara put her hands on her hips. "Does that dumb bitch have even the SLIGHTEST clue how leadership works?"

"I assume she's read too many crappy romance novels." Zelinnia rolled her eyes and went back to paperwork.

"Apparently not." Renwa shook his head. "What brings you to this side of town?"

"Oh, I came to ask Zelinnia when she was going to finish her project on my desk." She turned and looked at the woman in question. "I can't follow how your mind works, so I've just left the mess. If you could get back to it and finish, I kind of need my desk back."

"Oh, sorry. I kind of forgot..." She blushed.

"Well, Renwa does have a way of erasing your memory." She winked.

"Elunara..." He sighed.

"Oh hush. She's read my books, she knows what we did."

There was another knock on the door.

"Enter!"

Captain Jordan walked in and frowned. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just came to speak to Zelinnia about the mess she left on my desk." Elunara sighed.

"Oh." He frowned as he looked at Zelinnia's tidy workspace. "She seemed efficient enough." He finally said.

Zelinnia flushed. "Sorry. I have a habit of cross checking things. I... well, I could try to explain it to you, but everyone I've tried, gets this confused look on their face, pats my shoulder and walks off." She slumped the shoulders in question.

Renwa kissed the top of her head. "If it works for you, it's good enough to me." She smiled up at him.

Elunara spotted the rise of pink in Jordan's cheeks and considered. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I'll see you later." The shifting expressions across his face were mixed, but it confirmed her suspicions. With that in mind, she left.

A moment later, Zelinnia caught up with her. "I figured I'd finish my reading now."

"That's fine." Elunara put her hands behind her head. "You're right you know."

"Huh?"

"About Jordan. I saw it this time." She shrugged. "I guess I never looked for it, because he always acted like I was just there to mess up the mind of Renwa. I always thought his affections lay there." She sighed and dropped her hands. "Hard to love a guy who isn't even in to that." She twisted her mouth. "So now I have to wonder, when did that one happen?"

"After you broke the connection to Renwa."

Elunara froze. "What?"

Zelinnia dug a toe in the ground. "That's one of the many things I've been cross-referencing. After you and Renwa came to your little agreement, Jordan's perception of you changed. I haven't finished it all, but... yeah, it's there."

"Wait, if I didn't know it, how do you?"

"Your work is so perfect, it's kind of scary. I think the end result, is that you captured it without even realizing what you were doing. You can see it in the shifts, in the expressions, in the mannerisms. Come on, let me show you."

Elunara stared at the sheets Zelinnia carefully laid out for her. It was there, always there; in the expression on his face as he looked up at her on the hill during training; the stance of him by her side. It was subtle, but she was always brilliant at the details. There had been times when she looked at her own work and couldn't remember drawing a detail here or there... but this...

"...The hell am I supposed to do with this??" Elunara stared in disbelief.

"Well, that I can't tell you." Zelinnia frowned.

Elunara sat, staring at the picture of Jordan, his hand barely reaching out toward her. It was the day she had returned from Lorros, and his expression was pained. At the time, she was pleased that he'd worried for her, now she was appalled by the raw hurt in his face. She rubbed her forehead. "Well, things just got a lot more complicated."

"You could always get yourself captured again and bring back a girlfriend for him, like you did with Renwa." Zelinnia gave a half laugh at her own bad joke.

"No, I've got to figure out how to work this out." She drummed her fingers on her leg. "Just... clean this all up when you're done. I don't think I have to tell you to get the pages back in order, or I will be cross."

"I have a system."

"I'll trust your system. I'm going for a walk."

Part of her didn't want to have this conversation, but her heart knew she needed to. She made her way down to the training yard, and didn't have to wait long before Grogek met her.

"Hello my life, come for a spar?"

"I need to speak with you about something Zelinnia discovered." She looked around. "Away from the others." She jerked her head back and walked up the hill to her favorite tree. She crossed her arms and leaned against the tree, watching the activity below. The men were disciplined enough that he didn't have to say a word to them.

"What bothers you so?"

"Zelinnia has been going through my papers and noticed something that I never did." She shook her head. "I'm not even sure what to do about it."

"You're scaring me." He whispered.

"Jordan is in love with me."

Grogek barked out a laugh. "You can't be serious."

Elunara held up the page.

Grogek took it carefully and frowned. "It..."

"There's more." She shook her head. "I didn't see it when I was drawing, because I didn't realize it was there to see. I always thought that he disliked me, was in love with Renwa, but these are not pictures of a man fawning over his superior.

"This IS a strange problem." Grogek frowned as he stared at the page.

"The picture is from when we returned after Lorros. This is not a man concerned for a villager or even a friend... It's "

"...a man worried about a lover." Grogek finished for her. "When's the last time he's been in your room?"

"You were there." She murmured.

"Oh." He sighed. "That might explain why he refuses to speak when we're both in the same room."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm at a complete loss for what to do."

"I don't blame you. This is a sticky situation."

"Curious about Zelinnia's claim, I made a polite gesture towards him." She sighed. "It was subtle, but very much there. I couldn't deny it."

Grogek handed the picture back. "The decision is always yours my love."

She laughed as she stared at it. "Gee, do I take on another lover, or do I find him someone to pawn his affections off on."

Grogek gently kissed her mouth. "You have always followed your heart. I trust you to follow it again."

"First Zelinnia's little problem, now this. My head is killing me."