Blood Ties- Mourning

Just a few steps more.

Just a few more and you’ll be home.

The inn is only a few more steps away. You’ll finally be permitted to eat your fill. You can finally sleep in peace. You’ll change out of these clothes, finally clean yourself off, wipe it all away.

Just a few steps more and you’ll be in Eilynn’s arms.

Jack had been telling herself this since she’d escaped, over and over and over. She could have been walking for minutes or hours, she’d lost track of time. She’d simply pointed herself southwest towards Brill and walked. Taelys must have been doing a good job keeping the other Crusaders occupied, Jack knew she wasn’t being followed or tracked, and she was eternally grateful. She was finally going back home. Back to Lynn.

Just a few steps more.

Just a few more…

~~~

Corvina was sitting hunched by the hearth, attempting to keep warm by the fire. She was always cold and she loathed it. Plus, it was raining, and Brill was the only dry spot in Tirisfal, it seemed. Then again, there wasn’t much she could do about that, as a Forsaken. Without blood flowing through her, there was no body heat to be had. Though right now, she knew it was the least of her problems, glancing to the miserable blood elf beside her. Eilynn hadn’t been the same since the Monastery. The once bright and exuberant rogue was now pale and withdrawn, eyes dark with grief. She had become very thin and unhealthy, apparently unable to find the will even to eat with her beloved gone.

“Lynn… you can’t keep blaming yourself,” she mentioned quietly, stroking the lithe rogue’s raven-black hair with a skeletal hand in an attempt to comfort her.

“I left her,” Eilynn whimpered, clutching her drink with shaking hands. “I left her to d-die… it’s all m-my fault, Cor, it is…”

“She told you to run,” the Forsaken reminded her gently. “She chose that for herself.”

“I s-shouldn’t have l-listened. We should have stayed t-together. I’m such a coward…”

“Lynn, you both would have died.” Corvina’s voice was soothing and logical. “Or worse. She wanted to keep you alive, and she was willing to sacrifice herself for you—“

“She shouldn’t have!” The little elf yelped, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t deserve it… I don’t w-want to live without h-her… Oh, Jack, I’m so s-sorry…”

“Don’t talk like that,” the undead girl said sharply, taking the other by the arm. “Don’t even think it, Lynn. You can’t throw away the gift she gave you.” She stood and began to gently lead Eilynn to the staircase. “It’s late. Go get some sleep, you look exhausted,” she added more quietly, looking sympathetic as she gently pushed the elf up the stairs.

“Cor…”

“Yes?”

“ I’m sorry for burdening you.”

“Lynn, you’re never a burden, I’m your friend,” Corvina assured her, smiling sadly. “I’m here for you. Now go to bed. I’ll meet you tomorrow.” The elf nodded rather numbly and slipped upstairs, and the Forsaken returned to her spot by the fireplace. Ohh, the poor thing. Losing the one you love… the Forsaken knew it well. She had lost everything herself when she had died, hadn’t she? With a sigh she curled closer to herself, glad of the roaring fire behind her.

“That one is hurting deeply… isn’t she?”

Corvina glanced up at the voice in surprise, meeting the odd silvery eyes of another blood elf. The woman was tall and slim, clothed in high quality silken robes- very obviously an accomplished priestess. She was also stunningly beautiful; she was lithe and slender but with generous curves, she had delicate long-fingered hands and gorgeous silver hair- absolutely perfect in every way. The only thing off was her eyes- flat and dead, showing no emotion whatsoever.

“Excuse me?” Cor queried, and the elf smiled emptily and looked up at the ceiling.

“The one upstairs… she’s in quite a lot of pain.”
The undead nodded uneasily, watching the priestess like a hawk. This one was odd; she seemed almost Forsaken herself in her mannerisms.

“She’s lost someone very dear to her,” Corvina replied simply.

“Oh, did she now…” She looked towards the Forsaken with a
spark of interest. “What happened?”

“Crusaders,” she spat, venom creeping into her voice at the mention of the hated organization. “A girl, Jackyll Fletcher… she was captured.”

“Only captured, not killed? That’s rare for them,” the woman replied, gliding over to sit in front of Corvina. “Don’t they normally slaughter their enemies?”

“No one can be sure what happened to her. Better she be dead than the alternative.”

“Alive?”

“Tortured,” Cor growled, pulling up her shirt to show off old wounds. “If you’re captured by the Scarlets, it’s torture or death, and their methods are unspeakable.”

“Ah, knowledge by experience,” the priestess commented, smiling her flat and meaningless smile again. After a moment, she glanced towards the door, adding a nonchalant “Would you like me to look for her?”

Corvina blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I will go and look for her.”

“..We’ve already—”

“I’m sure you have,” she went on smoothly, “but I’m sure she deserves another chance, doesn’t she? Besides… you’ve got to stay here with the one upstairs.”

After a moment of confusion, Corvina nodded, rather unsure. “What’s the cost?” She wasn’t so naïve to think that someone would go out of their way to help someone they didn’t know for free, much less a respected priestess.

“I’ll tell you when I get back,” she answered serenely, standing up and offering a hand to the undead. “Catrienne Dawnbreaker.”

“Corvina,” she said, politely inclining her head. She’d thought to object- with an agreement like that the priestess could charge something exorbitantly high- but if she did any good, it was worth it.

“A pleasure,” she purred, her emotionless eyes staring into Cor’s shimmering yellow ones, before pulling back and turning towards the door. There was a moment’s pause, then-

“Miss Catrienne?”

“Yes?”

“If you find her dead… please, give her proper burial…”

Catrienne nodded once and was gone.

~~~

“Wait.”

The command was unexpected, and the circle of soliders drew back in surprise to catch a glimpse of who had issued it, one of them lowering the bloodied sword he had been prepared to strike with moments earlier.

“Don’t kill her yet.”

The steps were measured and unhurried, clicking with deceptive delicacy down the hall. Each Crusader bowed in subservience, drawing back to allow free passage to the speaker.

“What is the meaning of this?” The voice was strong and clear and
undeniably feminine, and even the lately-arrived Vishas pulled a smart salute as High Inquisitor Whitemane glanced around the hall with infinite scorn, Mograine lurking behind her and tossing imposing stares about the gathered soldiers. “She is a Crusader, is she not?”

“She…she helped a prisoner to escape, High Inqusitor,” Vishas murmured, his own voice tight with shame and apprehension.

“Did she.” Whitemane looked disdainfully towards the battered and bloody draenei on the floor, raising a brow before glancing back to Vishas. “Well then, Interrogator…” She paused and offered a thin smile. “Perhaps you ought to do your job.” He blinked in confusion, and she smirked a bit. “She helped a prisoner escape, correct? The two of them must have had quite a bond. Perhaps she was told information you were not privy to?”

A relieved look crossed his face and he bowed low, grateful for this escape. “Of course, milady, your wisdom is infinite.” Casting a vengeful grin towards Taelys, the Interrogator grasped her wrists and dragged her down the halls, back to his domain.