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The sun shone above the city of Stormwind like nothing had happened the day before. People went on with their lives, the market bustled, city guards patrolled the streets, and children played and laughed. Around noon situation changed, and the townsfolk began to move to the upper part of the town.
Khadgar was slowly packing. He was still exhausted after the fight with the guardian in Kharazan, so it was going very slowly. After the initial fight, Lothar had left for the battle that went on Black Morras and Khadgar allowed himself some time to rest and regenerate what he had lost while sucking away the Fel from Medivh. Only when he came back to Stormwind he found out that King Llane died on the battlefield. It saddened him, Llane was a good king. The sound of knocking on the door to the room he was renting, lifted him from the depressive thoughts which were invading his mind. Khadgar unlocked it only for it to reveal Archmage Antonidas, with his glowing blue eyes and some sort of robes in his arms.
“Archmage!” The young man exclaimed with unmistakable surprise in his voice. The older man not waiting for an invitation came in past Kirin Tor’s former student. "We hear you've been offered a place in Stormwind as mage consul to the Regent"
This shocked Khadgar even more, apparently news travels fast, he thought but out loud, still a bit stunned by what he had heard, only blurted “Uh... yeah, Lady Taria has asked me to stay.”
And went back to packing his components, for more complex spells, to the wooden casket that stood on the table placed by the window.
The Archmage in the meantime unfolded the clothing and presented it to the boy with words “Perhaps you consider a position more suited to your talents." Then put it on his bed.
Khadgar turned around with interest, he of course already suspected what is the point of this visit but needed a confirmation to fall from the Archmage’s lips, his elder continued “Your status as a novitiate is restored to you. You will be the next Guardian."
There it was.
Once, when Khadgar was a young child, he dreamed about it, just like every other novitiate in Kirin Tor. But that was then and now he was not a child anymore. He knew more now, about the world, people and politics. Kirin Tor threw him out when he tried to do something about Fel when he didn't listen when they told him that it was not his business. Kirin Tor would not react if previously a need for their assistance wasn’t expressed. Even then they could dismiss the plea with nearly no immediate consequences. For Khadgar it was not something he could stand for so he left with no tears shed over the fact of his abandonment. The most unsettling thing now was that they wanted him back because he was right all along and gained the trust of some of the most important people in Stormwind. He had the trust and friendship of the Royal family. It was only natural now they wanted to right their wrong and win Khadgar’s favor. It made them look bad if they didn’t. Pathetic, he thought but didn't show any of that on the outside. Though it was eating him from the inside. Antonidas, unaware of Khadgar’s train of thought, continued.
“Your responsibility will be up..." He didn’t let him finish the sentence. It was simply too much of…everything. But instead of openly showing his anger on how much he despised the man in front of him, Khadgar calmly asked,
"Will you be attending King Llane's funeral?" The question caught the Archmage by surprise.
"Of course, it is the duty of the Kirin Tor to attend such transitions of power." The answer was obvious, Khadgar knew it and smiled a bit knowing the answer for another one,
"And... the war that is coming, will you attend that?" The silence that followed that question was good enough answer for him. His smile got a bit bigger, and Khadgar made the right choice in the end. "Then no. No, I won't be Guardian" He made a few steps towards his bed, took the robe, and gave it back to Antonidas, Keep the robe" Then he turned when something moved in the open door, Lothar, a young mage didn't hear him coming.
“I will pass along your answer." even if the Archmage didn't want to show regret about Khadgar not agreeing to this, the mage heard it nonetheless. After all, they just lost a very valuable spy, who wouldn't be disappointed about that?
* * *
Lothar, in the meantime, stood in the open door and keenly observed. From the look of things, the spell-chucker was packing albeit slowly. The whole room was in quite a big disarray, the bed unmade, papers strewn across the floor. Anduin knew that the mage was tired, he was there for the fight with the traitor Medivh after all, for when the kid banished Fel from the tower. That impressed him enough to be proud of the youngster and had to finally agree with one thing, Khadgar was more powerful than he thought at first. His sister also was overjoyed with this new development. They gained a powerful ally, which is why Lothar wasn't surprised when Taria asked the mage to stay and serve as a consul, he was smart and loyal from what Lothar just heard. He had to admit he was fond of the kid, and he needed someone he could trust. Now even more than ever before.
"How long were you standing there?" Said kid asked the commander, he was not a warrior so Lothar understood that the bookworm wouldn't be as vigilant as a seasoned knight, especially while being as tired as he was. Anduin smiled pleasantly,
"Not long, since when you asked him about war" Khadgar sighed, apparently he wasn't very happy about the outcome of his talk with the Archmage. From what Anduin gathered, the young mage wasn’t unhappy with his own choice but with Kirin Tor’s beliefs and the place where they would stand in the upcoming conflict.
"No offense, but why are you here?” He finally uttered, “Shouldn't you be preparing for King Llane's funeral?" At that Lothar’s face became blank, without any emotions then he slowly crossed the room and put down a dagger on the table for Khadgar to see. His facial expression did not change in any way while the spell-chucker inspected the blade.
"Garona's dagger." Khadgar declared after a minute, an unspoken question in his eyes.
"I pulled that from Llane's neck" Lothar answered it with a bit of sadness marring his voice.
“Well, there has to be an explanation..." That's the hopeful and honest kid the champion liked and remembered from before the whole debacle at Black Morras.
"Yes, she made her choice," he responded with a small bite at the end.
"I don't believe that." Lothar also didn't but at the same time knew that sometimes there was no bigger picture in someone’s doing. Everybody was selfish to some extent.
"Maybe you and I didn't know her as well as we thought we did." With that said he got up and left the spell-chucker alone with his thoughts and the knife. He had his problems to take care of, mainly funeral and war, which was coming closer every day. He didn't have the time needed to grieve, not after Llane, his friend, not after Medivh, who he wasn't sure was worthy of his grief, nor after his dear son, because drinking himself to unconsciousness didn't count as grieving for Lothar. About Garona he didn't really want to think even, it pained him. He was attracted to her, she was a fierce warrior and he hoped that maybe one day they... he wasn't sure what. Maybe that's what pained him the most, the uncertainty and what could have been. The fresh air outside the inn cleaved his head a bit and allowed him to focus on the problems at hand - the funeral.
* * *
The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Light. It was an impressive building. Made from white stone with towers pointing high in the sky. It was breathtaking for Khadgar, buildings in Dalaran were never built that tall. There was simply no place for that so the mage, being a very curious creature, took in all sights he could.
King Llane's body, already cleaned from blood and in polished armor, was placed on a pyre that stood in the center at the top of the stairs leading to the main gates to the cathedral. Attending the ceremony were delegates from all seven kingdoms. Nearly all of them were seated under the steps on chairs brought there specifically for the officials.
“There is no greater blessing a city can have than a king who would sacrifice himself for people" Khadgar listened to Lady Taria's speech. She spoke with conviction and steadiness he wouldn’t be capable of in her place. He stood to the left side of her along with Archmage Antonidas. They were the only ones allowed to be on the same level as the royal family, and as Khadgar had already observed, not everyone was pleased with this arrangement. On her right stood Lothar with Llane's children, a boy Varian and a girl or young lady by the name of Adariall.
"But such a sacrifice must be earned." Taria continued, "We must deserve it. If we only show our unity to mourn a good man's death, was king Llane wrong to believe in you?" She bellowed. The citizens who crowded under the honored officials answered her with very loud shouts of no.
"We will avenge him, My Lady!" Some others yelled. That was a cue for Khadgar, he took the sword from the pyre and offered it to Lothar with only the slightest of nods as encouragement. He, as well as Taria and the townspeople, believed in the commander to lead them well in the war.
"Lead us against the orcs, Lothar!" another denizen shouted and the rest began chanting his name. Champion took the blade then and went to stand with his sister in the center while Khadgar took his place. That earned him a few not-pleasant looks from the guests.
"For Azeroth!" He yelled and raised a sword in the air, "For Azeroth and the Alliance!" which was followed by a wave of cheers toward the new ruler.
“For Azeroth, for the Alliance!" People bellowed after him.
Then the public part of the whole thing was done. People slowly filtered out of the square, widowed queen then arranged for the priests to take care of the body for now.
The next few hours were quite chaotic for Khadgar, all of the ambassadors have given their condolences to Taria and paid respect to the dead King. The mage quietly stood aside and observed. At some point, some of the ambassadors walked up to him to congratulate him on the great defeat of the Guardian. Some politely tried to enquire about the inside politics of Stormwind where he quite pointedly told them that such questions were inappropriate in this situation and above all should be voiced to either Queen or the King regent. Truth be told he wouldn’t be capable of telling them anything worthwhile because he was not knowledgeable in this particular field at the present moment. Well, he didn’t make any friends then.
* * *
In the evening, when all formalities were done and the official part was finished Taria and Anduin both bid farewell to Llane one last time, and the funeral pyre has been lightened. Khadgar attended, Lothar asked him to. At first, he didn't want to be there, he was never close with the king, not like the rest of the people who were also invited. He felt like he didn't belong there like he would be an intruder. The young mage voiced his concerns to Anduin but the older man dismissed those quickly.
"You deserve to be there." He assured Khadgar, still, a young man felt out of place, couldn't be helped he supposed. That was the first time when he saw the queen break. Throughout the day she stood strong, proud, and regal. She was the pillar that lifted the spirits of people. She had to show them that it was not too much for her. That emotions do not rule her. This was a private affair though, so she allowed her tears to flow freely. She was still only a human, after all, surrounded by people she considered friends and family. Her children were in no better shape than her, Adariall openly sobbed into her mother’s shoulder while Varian shed only silent tears. He tried to be like Lothar who was holding the best of them all, only by glazed eyes Khadgar recognized the greatness of the sadness and regret in his eyes. In the barracks, Khadgar heard that once upon a time Lothar, Llane and Medivh were close friends, as thick as thieves, was how knights put it. The trio traveled together across the lands of Azeroth, fought together, and experienced adventures together.
Now Medivh was dead and declared a traitor, Llane also dead at the hands of someone who was considered a friend by every one of them. Maybe something more to Lothar, he seemed to be quite close with the half-orc, but that made everything more painful Khadgar realized. The mage let his head drop to his chest, too many thoughts and emotions were going through his head, and he needed some sleep.
The pyre have been burning the whole night, the embers stopped smoking when the sun was halfway above the horizon. Khadgar was dead on his feet by then and had problems with comprehension of the simplest of facts, like where he was and with whom he was there. At least he didn’t have to go back to the Inn by himself. With his new place in the castle came a set of private rooms within its walls. The servants were told to move his things there while he participated in this event. The carriage was waiting for them under the Cathedral, he stumbled twice, unintentionally of course, while coming down the stairs. It ashamed him greatly, after all, Lothar took part in both battles and stood proudly without any problem. Khadgar burned red on his face from embarrassment,
"I'm sorry, My Lady, for my clumsiness." He said. She looked at him with understanding clear in her eyes and a warm smile on her face. How could she be capable of this, was beyond his understanding at the moment.
"Don't be, Khadgar, I know you didn't have much time to recover from your fight this is why I thank you for your company. This means a lot to us. And please don’t think lesser of yourself I know from Medivh that it takes time to regain strength after a feat like the one you performed."
He didn't have much strength left so he just nodded. When the carriage rolled in and stopped in the courtyard and all passengers stumbled out half asleep, well in Varian's case dead to the world, the servants came to assist the family to their rooms. What surprised Khadgar was that one of the servants came to assist him.
"Sir mage if you would follow, I am to show you to your chambers." It was a kid not much younger than him, he judged by the tone of voice.
"Please call me Khadgar." He mumbled while following the boy through the main door, he missed the smile directed at him from the kid who lead him around the castle halls. They walked in silence disturbed only by the mage’s heavy stomping. He was exhausted and in his mind, it took them an eternity to arrive at their destination. Finally, the boy stopped in front of one of the many doors.
"I will come by later Khadgar to show you to the dining room as your presence has been requested by the Queen Taria, though…” Then bit his lip. Khadgar saw the kid hesitate a bit so he beckoned for him not to be afraid, “Well…She also said not to wake you if you won’t be conscious by then.” The young spellcaster sighed with relief and nodded in a silent thank you. The boy then turned to leave the mage alone, when he disappeared around the corner Khadgar entered his new quarters. He immediately found himself in something that was probably the main room. Empty bookshelves led around the walls and a long table had been placed by the row of windows in front of him. To his right was a bedroom with King sized bed, a wardrobe, and a bathing chamber with basin and water ready for use. It was a blessing, he cleaned himself hastily and changed into sleeping clothes he found among his possessions. The last thing he remembered was that the bed was comfortable, the pillows full of feathers and sunrays filtering through another set of windows, then everything went black.
* * *
Lothar stood in the middle of his new quarters with, once again, a blank expression. Memories flowed through his head, good and bad. Slowly he took off his armor and put it away on a stand with care. It was a very mechanical act, one he performed so many times in the past that now it had a calming effect on him. With every piece taken off, stories came back to him. He remembered everything anew like it was all yesterday. All those battles, both lost and won, and adventures they went through, never alone but in three, with Llane and Medivh. Every time Lothar came back to the keep he could count on his friends being there with him. His brothers in all but blood. Finished with his armor newly appointed King Regent sat on top of his new bedding and looked out the window with unseeing eyes. All those campfire tales they told, all those cold nights under the stars... He finally felt tears fall from his eyes. A sob tore its way from his throat and another one shortly after the first. Lothar allowed himself to be weak after so long. He cried for Llane, for Callan… For Medivh. Yes, he was a traitor but Anduin couldn’t just forget all those years. So he cried and cried for the past that he would never reclaim, for his friends he would never see or hear again. For things he had and those that could have been. Because good memories sometimes were the worst kind of torture. Sun was high in the sky when Anduin finally gave in to deep, dreamless sleep.