Jordan stepped into Renwa's office. "Admiral Duchie, I know you've been after me to show you what I do here. Well, I've managed to make some time, if you'd just follow me."
Duchie stood up. "Uh..."
Renwa waved at him. "Go on ahead. I still have to finish this paperwork."
Once they were out of the way, Elunara slipped into the office and closed the door. "Sir, I've been meaning to speak to you privately."
"Proceed."
"It's about Admiral Duchie. Quite frankly I think he's a moron and an asshole. My original plan had been to introduce Charnak and possibly make him Duchie's new trainer for the new area; however, I don't think he's qualified..."
Renwa held up a hand. "Duchie IS a moronic asshole and I'm quite sick of dealing with him."
Elunara let out the breath she'd built up.
"Some years ago, he used to be a friend. Now, I realize that I didn't spend enough time with him to understand what a useless asshole he is." Renwa walked to the window and peered out.
Elunara snorted. "If he didn't have such pull with-"
"I'm going to stop you again. You have more pull with King Wyrnn than Duchie will ever have, and it pisses him off endlessly. How many times has he read your books?"
"Twice each, though some he has read repeatedly."
"Can you tell which ones he's re-read?"
"Yes. I keep detailed records of every book and who has read each one. Except for Zelinnia," She eyed the Blood Elf. "She yanked so many books over and over, that my system doesn't know what it's doing."
"I was cross-referencing."
"Yeah, I know."
"Find those books; tell me what he was trying to figure out." Renwa shook his head. "All of that reading, and he was shocked as shit that your mother was Tyrande."
Elunara rolled her eyes. "I manage to not be surprised."
"He does not speak to me unless spoken to." Zelinnia flipped another page. "I've decided I'm fine with that."
"You know that bothers me." He sighed.
"Elunara taught me better." Zelinnia gave a cat smile.
"He also refers to her as "that Blood Elf" instead of by her name." Renwa grit his teeth.
"Any idea what he plans?"
"I'm hoping your books might give us leads. The end result is, he should have been outside starting his own town months ago. Yet, he sits in my office as if it is his and he's rude to pretty much everyone I consider a friend. Everyone has to call him Admiral, even me."
"Lame." Elunara tugged a sheet out of her pocket and handed it to Renwa. "John brought me this."
Renwa frowned at the paper. "I'd heard you were using him. This... makes no sense."
"It took me several tries to understand it myself. Duchie is privately recruiting, but doing a shitty job of it. John caught him several times offering bribes and incentives to get people to leave here, but he's done a poor job of selecting. This is a tally sheet. If you follow these lines here..."
Zelinnia walked over and snatched out the sheet. She studied it for several moments. "That fucking asshole." She marched to a cabinet and began yanking seemingly random sheets. She laid them out on the conference table. Once she was done, she gestured. "That stupid bastard has been trying to siphon funds."
Elunara put her hand on a sheet of paper. "Well, shit."
Renwa blinked at it several times, turning his head this way and that. "Zel, my love, I have no fucking idea what you just did."
Zelinnia groaned. "It's actually very clear." She went into lecture mode and spent several minutes detailing what she had put together.
"See, this is why you're perfect." Renwa brushed his lips against hers.
"But, WHY is the question."
Zelinnia shrugged. "This note is only part of the issue." She gathered the sheets together and started re-filing them.
"How did John get this?"
"Duchie wadded it up and threw it in a bucket. If John hadn't heard him earlier, he wouldn't have bothered. As it was, he thought the page would please me."
"I see why you want to work him. Very well, keep me informed. You're his trainer now."
"Understood."
"For now, we keep this business between the three of us. I know how you are Elunara, but your family needs to be in the dark for now."
"They think I'm using John for a different purpose. Jordan has an idea, but he thinks I'm just here to complain about Duchie's incompetence. I'll deal with John's involvement." She tucked the note back into her pocket.
Renwa nodded. "Good. I don't have to tell you about keeping this to the vest."
The door slammed open and Duchie marched in, followed on his heels by Jordan. Duchie froze and stared at Elunara. He narrowed his eyes and sat down. "Your HUSBAND deliberately humiliated me in front of the troops." He turned to Renwa. "I DEMAND an apology."
"Ok, first off, how? Second off, why? Third... Well, you get the idea." Elunara smirked.
"He wanted me to address the troops, so I went through the motions..."
"HAH! You set me up!"
Jordan shook his head in disbelief. "How was I supposed to know that the band on your pants was broken?"
"Am I to understand that one of my best and most reliable officers, PANTSED a superior officer in front of the troops?"
"I did no such thing."
"It's all because of HER!" Duchie pointed at Elunara. "Ever since she came to this town and taken it over, the morals of this town have all but disintegrated. Her so called family is no different. Nothing but disgusting perversion. " He crossed his arms. "A severe lack of discipline all around. I'll be writing to King Wrynn, mark my words."
"So marked." Elunara smiled politely. She slipped an arm around Jordan's. "Come, my HUSBAND, let's go do more perverted things."
"I'm always up for that."
Once outside and out of ear shot, she dropped her arm and took his hand. "Alright, now I have to know how you pulled it off... literally."
"I actually didn't. One of our stops was over at the leatherworking shop. Lucy was finishing up his belt order, putting some finishing touches in the design. Admiral moron began berating Sam for letting an untried novice finish his belt. Then started going on about how she was a disgrace to the army for quitting, and how he would see to it that King Wyrnn would have her shipped back to Stormwind, followed by how absurd it was that Sam would let Lucy even work there, on the words of a disgraced whore. By his first insult, Lucy started digging too deep into the pattern, by time he was through; she'd punched a series of holes so close together they made a break line. All I had to do was wait for a fun moment and..."
"Oh, that is priceless."
"Our men are disciplined enough to not laugh at superior officer... unless signaled to beforehand."
"That guy is a complete and utter asshole. Even Renwa hates him."
"That's good to know."
"Renwa wants a way to be rid of him, without giving him a town to lord over."
Jordan snorted. "He couldn't buy loyalty if he tried. He's also a lazy shit; he doesn't have what it takes to be Renwa."
Elunara stopped. "That's it. He's not after his own town, he's after THIS town."
"Not going to happen."
"Maybe not..." She dropped his hand and ran back home. Not bothering to check the door, she bolted into her library and started digging in her desk.
"What's the matter?"
She found her log book and held out a hand. Several books began to glow. She snagged them all down and began flipping through. "Duchie has read every book in here twice, and then picked out several he's asked for a number of times. After all of that reading, he's still shocked over certain details, like my mother being Tyrande."