Chapter Text
Odesa Silverwood
It had not been an easy three months, Odesa reflected as she knelt between the creaking mechanical arcane peacekeeper and the brace of Silvermoon Sentries at the gate of Silvermoon City. She was serving part of her sentence for pick-pocketing people in the Royal Exchange plaza last month. There was a small awning overhead, but the heat of the day wrapped around her as she knelt, and the whining servos of the peacekeeper towering over her filled her long slender elfin ears. The Sentries were flesh and blood like herself, and stood around her, bored and shifting their weight from foot to foot occasionally, but keeping diligent watch over her as their prisoner nonetheless.
Odesa’s troubles began when she learned that there had been a schism between Vereesa Windrunner and Silvermoon’s Lord Regent, Lor’themar Theron. He had exiled her, and Windrunner had taken the Farstrider Rangers into banishment with her. That was bad enough news, since Odesa had been planning to join their forces. There had been some friction between them and Lord Theron over the means found to keeping the Blood Elves’ magical cravings from becoming overwhelming.
The next blow had been the news that Odesa’s parents, lost and unaccounted for in the Scourge attacks, had finally been sighted, but could no longer know her, or her three sisters. They had become Death Knights, and their bodies pressed into half-living service by Arthas, the Lich King in Northrend. Some Death Knights had been reached by friends or surviving kin at a point in their training where they had not yet succumbed to Arthas’ over reaching power. These lucky few had fragmented memories, and returned more or less, to their families. Those that became full Death Knights could no longer be made to remember or be swayed to mercy; such was the curse of being raised from the dead by the lich King.
Her eldest sisters, the twins Meshanka and Ellodie were well established in their priestly occupations, healing adventurers and managing a large guild. Neither of them knew she was sitting in the sweltering heat, serving her public humiliation for being caught pick pocketing. Shylia, her next oldest sibling had gone into service with the Blood Knights. She was living in town, but had little time due to the rigorous paladin training, to spend with Odesa. Odesa hadn’t wanted to hear Shylia’s lectures either, so she sat here sweating day after day, true to her parole sentence and hoping Shylia didn’t walk by.
Silvermoon was the capital of the so-called “Blood Elves” to which Odesa and her sisters belonged. Blood elves were a fallen branch of High Elves, and had only recently been accepted into the Horde, a loose conglomeration of people of very different ethnic origins. The Horde was made up primarily of orcs, trolls, tauren, and undead humans. Each race was wildly different to the other, but they were brought together under the orc Warleader Thrall, in their opposition to the peoples of the Alliance, made up of humans, night elves, gnomes, dwarves, and Draenei, a race of people from the same world as orcs. Blood elves had long slender ears, not unlike trolls or night elves. But trolls tended to have blue or green skin, and night elves tended to be shades of violet or violet tinged brown and both races were very tall. Blood elves tended to be diminutive by comparison to them, with pale to deep tan skins.
The politics of Azeroth, a world of deeply divided peoples, were largely beyond Odes at the moment. With the rest of Odesa’s surviving family well occupied and doing all right, Odesa had been at loose ends since she couldn’t join the Farstriders. Then two months ago, she met Darlia the rogue trainer, who let her know there was always space in the rogue profession for new talent. Odesa formally joined the rogues a few days later, and began training under Darlia in Silvermoon.
In her enthusiasm for her new trade, Odesa had not been cautious enough. She was caught red handed in the Royal Exchange Plaza with an official’s leather wallet, which she had lifted earlier that day. It had been humiliating to be brought in by the Sentries, and pending her trial, she had been forbidden to leave the city. Of course, on top of that, she had to sit as an example of what happens when you break the law, for others to learn from. After her trial, she was not sure what would happen.
She did have a hope though, only a few days ago, Kovari Emberbrook, the captain in charge of supervising parolees this past two weeks, had given her a letter, which had come for her. It was from sister Meshanka, letting her know that there was an opening in a respectable guild based in Orgrimar for Odesa, if only she would present herself with her membership fee of five gold pieces. The problem was, the meeting had been set for tomorrow, and her trail was not for another week. Kovari was not on duty here today, and when she’d asked the lieutenant in charge where he was, she had been rudely told to be quiet, and that it wasn’t her business.
She had been thinking of asking Kovari if he’d help her slip away. He had been in her father’s unit under Lord Theron during the Scourge wars. Kovari had been a junior officer at the time, and her parents had been in the habit of inviting junior officers to dine at their home. He had known who she was, and she was thankful he hadn’t added more lectures to the ones the judges had made her sit through on what a terrible person she was. Kovari was maybe four or five years older than she was and he hadn’t particularly noticed her before the Scourge wars. She recalled that he had been paying court to an archer in the Farstrider Rangers. It turned out the young woman had ended up one of Arthas minions as well.
Without Kovari there to possibly help her today, and desperate to make the meeting to join Crusaders of the Templar tomorrow, Odesa had to figure out a way out of Silvermoon and over to Orgrimar. As her required daily hours of being an example to the good citizens of the city wore on, she turned her alternatives over in her mind. The Orcish capital city Orgrimar was in Kalimdor, far across the ocean from Silvermoon.
By the time she was dismissed for the day, she thought she had two choices, both of them bad. Ironically, the safer one involved getting past the guards here at the gate, trekking across Eversong Forest, and threading her way through the Ghostlands. Once across the border to the Plague Lands, the problems would really begin. She would have to run flat out across the Plague Lands, dodging alliance forces and deadly abominations the whole way to Undercity, which would take about two days at the very least if she didn’t get killed on the way. Getting killed would insure that she missed her appointment with Meshanka’s friend Olwyn. Option one, she thought grimly to herself, was not a viable option.
The second, less safe way involved sneaking into the Sunfury Spire, the de-facto city hall of Silvermoon, and sneaking past the Sentries, as well as Lord Reagent Theron and his cronies in the throne room, to the magical Orb of Translocation. The Orb would send her directly to Undercity in Tirisfal, far south of here. She knew from overhearing travelers in Silvermoon City Inn’s common room, that Undercity had a zeppelin port and therefore had quick access to the goblin run zeppelins to Orgrimar in Kalimdor. While less safe in terms of her breaking parole not to leave Silvermoon, it was certainly quicker and more sure to allow her to keep the meeting her sister had set up. It really was the only option and she resolved to sneak out that way before nightfall. The five gold was another problem. Hopefully she could borrow the money from Meshanka. Her older sister had not known of her current predicament with the law, but she had provided an excellent means of escaping her sentence, assuming Odesa could get into the respectable Crusaders of the Templar guild.
Another prisoner was being led towards the awning, and the lieutenant finally barked at Odesa that she could go for the day, and to report back in the morning. She stood slowly, dusting off her leather covered knees with her palms, and reflexively straightening the rest of her outfit and tucking her bobbed chestnut hair behind her ears. Odesa shot the lieutenant a calculating look to see if he was watching her, but she had gone out of his mind already. She could see he was glaring down at the new prisoner, a weary looking male blood elf, now kneeling in her place and looking dejectedly down at the rough carpet she had so recently occupied. The mechanical peacekeeper’s joints creaked again as she walked away, back toward her rooms. She gathered her belongings, and told the innkeeper to send the bill to Meshanka Silverwood in Orgrimar. The innkeeper looked sidelong at Odesa, but took the address and said she would send it.
Silvermoon City Inn had a back entrance that led out to Murder Row, where the other rogues all had a training hall, and where Odesa still could pull a few favors. She talked Darlia into letting her have a little low grade vanishing powder, which did not require any stabilizing spell to make it work, but its poor quality meant that it could wear off at any time. Holding her breath, she was now standing in the shadows at the end of the Row, under the arch to the Court of the Sun in front of Sunfury Spire beyond.
“Follow the laws, maintain order...” a brace of Sentries and their arcane mechanoid peacekeeper pranced by in their red armor and Odesa ducked back into the deeper shadows until they passed. Once they were gone, Odesa used the vanishing powder and edged her way around the wall. Avoiding direct contact with people, she made it up the stairs of the plaza beside the fountain pool unseen. Holding her breath, she made it to the broad open ramp to the Sunfury Spire doors. Hoping the powder would not wear off, she crept to the top of the ramp. Two rows of Sentries, one on either side of the carpet to the door, stood guard dauntingly at the entrance of the Spire. Luckily, with the vanishing powder, they did not see her as she sped by on tiptoes.
She had a near brush in the hall as a group of citizens came out toward the ramp she’d just come up, talking loudly of their exploits in the south. Once in the circular throne room, she dodged behind some curtains, waiting tensely for the room to clear out some. The Lord Reagent was there, with his good friend Halduron, and a magister whom she did not know. Even worse, Captain Emberbrook was there with a brace of guards, stationing them around the room and relieving those guards who had been there all day.
The magister sniffed the air and looked directly at the curtains she was hiding behind, but he said nothing. Eventually Halduron, the magister and Lord Theron left, but Kovari’s guard unit was still in place, and Kovari himself was still there, making rounds of the room and disappearing into the translocation room from time to time. If she took the ramp to the back of the room where the orb of translocation she had been forbidden to use was, he might notice her passing, invisible or not.
Odesa looked at her hand. It was still invisible to her, but she was not sure how much longer she would have the protection of the vanishing powder, and who knew when Lord Theron and his friends would return? When Kovari reentered the throne room, tall, pale blond and handsome, she decided she would have to make her move. He took up a station at the top of the ramp and stood still, on watch. Slipping past the captain was going to be a challenge. She edged out from behind the curtain and eyed him cautiously. His men were bored but at attention, and Kovari was staring moodily out the door listening to the mage trainers down the hall. The Mages and Priests had lesson rooms off of the main hall between the Court of the Sun outside and the throne room, and the mage and her apprentices could be dimly heard yelling at each other.
She tiptoed silently up the ramp. At the top, slightly behind him and halfway through the door to the Orb, she looked Kovari up and down one last time. He was powerfully built, and wore armor befitting a captain of the Sentries. Then the heavy pouch hanging from his belt snagged her eye. It looked full of coins.
That would have at least the five gold she needed for the guild membership, and solve her money problems, probably for a whole month, she thought. She found herself, without even thinking it through, sneaking around to his side. With her left hand, she lifted the purse; with her right she quietly slid the knife out of her boot and was about to cut the strings, when his hand suddenly grasped her wrist. She was visible! The vanishing powder had worn off.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He almost growled as he hauled her up by the wrist, to land up against his chest. With a gasp she tried to pull back and he crushed her to him, locking her left hand behind her back. His guard unit looked to him, at the negative shake of his head, they obediently turned away, pretending nothing was going on.
“Drop the knife,” he commanded as he tightened his grip on her right wrist.
“No,” she said through gritted teeth and he tightened his grip again, and forced her to drop the knife.
He twisted her right hand behind her too, and asked again, “What do you think you’re doing? Answer me!” Now he’d recognized her, and his expression was changing and she could see disappointment set in.
“I’m...” she nearly lied, five or six different stories went through her mind to supply him with, but none of them would result in him letting her go. This was a man who had eaten at her parent’s table, fought side by side with her father before the Scourge, and he knew her older sisters by name and had even worked with Meshanka on some of her recent adventures. His eyes were green, and locked on her own gaze. He was, she was startled to realize up close, very handsome.
Don’t get weak now, she told herself, you need the guild placement. A guild leader had pull with the courts and could get you off the hook, she reminded herself. You need to get out of here.
“I’m trying to go to Orgrimar, my sister Meshanka has secured me a place in a guild, but I must be there tomorrow.” Her feet weren’t touching the floor, and her arms hurt from him twisting them behind her, but he searched her face a few moments. She thought he would call his unit men, she thought he’d throw her in prison for breaking parole. Instead, his features softened and he set her down.
“I know all three of your sisters. Priests, and a Paladin, they’re fine citizens. I have been asking myself about your situation for a few weeks now, but you tell me, what turned you into a rogue, Odesa?”
She rubbed her arms to restore circulation and taken aback by his question, she looked down at her feet.
“You honestly want to know? You want the truth?” she asked, her voice small.
“Always.”
“I don’t have their way with magic, I have no inclination to heal people. My parents are as good as dead, and I wanted to join the Farstriders, but they’ve been exiled...” she looked up, anger in her eyes, though she was surprised to be feeling so forward with him. Perhaps he had some sort of aura to compel these truths from her. “I could have a chance to make my way in the world if I can get to this meeting on time,” she trailed off.
“Or you could honor your parole and stay here for trail?” he asked. Something about the tone of his voice made her look up again. Could he be about to send her to prison? He raised a hand, and gently stroked her cheek, brushing wayward strands of her hair back behind her ear. He changed the motion to run his fingers down the back of her arm and lifted her hand. He plunked the purse from his belt into her palm.
“Go. Take your chance,” his glance went over her shoulder and he added, “Now, before I have to explain your presence to Lord Theron and his entourage.”
She could hear Lord Theron and Halduron talking as they returned, still far enough down the hall not to have seen her. She moved, stooping quickly to pick up her knife, and then she jumped a little, to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, and then bolted for the orb of translocation.
“Tell your sister hello for me,” he called after her as she touched the orb, which whisked her to Under City.
* * * *
Captain Emberbrook watched as Eldoross Silverwood’s youngest and most trouble-prone chestnut haired daughter slipped away to a new life. It had been a surprise to him when she had been caught picking pockets a few weeks ago. He had been keeping an eye on her since then, taking guard duty at the parolee’s stand by the gates until Major Morrow, in charge of duty rotations had forced him today, to rotate to guard duty here in the throne room. Her father and he had served together, and he had been a guest at her family's home, so Kovari had kept an ear open to the four sister's fates. Especially since their parents had been members of the troop he was in when the Scourge had taken so many, including Ireena, the archer woman he’d had a fondness for. The Silverwood sisters had a hard road because both their parents had been taken.
Until recently, Odesa had slipped from his attention only to turn up in custody for practicing her rogue arts on Silvermoon's citizens. Major Morrow had been particularly gleeful to catch a pickpocket. It had made his day to practice his almost fanatical version of law and order. Privately Kovari thought officers like Morrow were more a part of the problem of crime, than the solution to it. Odesa, he thought, would have been fine if she'd confined herself to picking the pockets of the staggering zombies in the burnt scar of the Scourge attack up to Silvermoon. He supposed however, that zombies would not have been much of a challenge, even to relatively new rogues like her. But pick-pocketing citizens? That did have to be discouraged, she had even tried it on him just now.
He shook his head. Her body had been light and warm as she'd tried to pull away, and she had fought him, even though she knew she'd been wrong to try and take his coin pouch. That squaring up of her shoulders as she told him about how her hopes for joining the Farstriders had been dashed rather then begging him to let her by, had hit a cord with him and decided him on letting her go. If she was at the core an honest person, and if all she wanted was freedom and a few coins, he could see his way to granting those, even against the better judgment of Silvermoon judges. She had become a lovely young woman since he'd first met her. And her lips brushing his cheek... He caught himself wondering how it would feel to kiss her...
“Captain Emberbrook?”
“Hmm?” He became aware that one of his unit men, with Lord Theron returning, had been trying to get his attention for a few minutes now. "Sorry, lost in thought there... " He turned back to the business of guarding the throne room.