Arrival in Stormwind
Laila looks out over Stormwind in the moonlight.
Laila left Westfall by ship. Now that the Defias threat was dampened and the land was in such upheaval, it was much faster to sail up the coast than to travel by land, even though it was now much safer by land than it had been before. There was no fanfare, no big farewells. Just a ferryman who took Laila and Patch out to sea until they met up with a large ship anchored as shallow as it could go. Patch was extremely distressed to find himself at sea, but he was a solid horse and had been trained for battle as well as work. He stood stock still and didn’t move, and just stared at Laila balefully. They lowered a wide plank down to the ferry for her and she and Patch carefully made her way up it to find her welcoming committee – Elsharin and Edmond. She hugged them excitedly.
It had been quite a while since she had seen either of them. The cruise to Stormwind was perfect for them to catch up. It was cold and cloudy and the wind was brisk, so they went belowdecks and shared hard biscuits and black coffee with the Captain and then sat together and spoke of their lives since they had last seen each other. Elsharin had been working for the Silver Covenant, who had her looking into a new Blood Elf organization called The Reliquary. Elsharin admitted that she had been somewhat relieved to hear from Gryan Stoutmantle and that it had been a relief to surrender the task. She did not feel as militantly as the Silver Covenant about the Sin’Dorei and after her initial research into the Reliquary she found that she could not quarrel with their cause, for what they sought was not only an end to the Sin’Dorei dependency on arcane power, but also a way to repair the sundering between the Sin’Dorei and Quel’Dorei. Elsharin grieved that they remained enemies and felt that she would actually welcome diplomatic inroads. Laila was fascinated to hear of all this. Being so entrenched in Stormwind she knew and heard little of anything outside of human politics. It was somewhat refreshing to hear about something else for a change.
As for Edmond … “I’ve been learning how to make cheese,” he grinned.
Laila peered at him, as if waiting for the punchline.
Edmond laughed. “No, I’m serious. I’m training with Stormwind’s master of cheese, Elling Trias. He is teaching me the fine art of cheesemongering. Of course I have more that I am learning as well, but every good SI:7 operative must have real life skills, and some sort of occupation. Making cheese is a fine one, don’t you think?”
Laila laughed at him. Of course it made sense. Some SI:7 agents went about their business as agents, but many others were undercover, sometimes deeply so. In her own travels she had met with the unlikeliest of figures – shepherds, transients, farmhands, makers of ladies’ delicate garments, schoolmarms, spoiled debutantes, and ink-stained clerks, among others. Why not a cheesemonger? What surprised her was that Edmond was taking that route. He had once wanted to be a paladin. There wasn’t a more straightforward profession than that. She had assumed he would opt for one of the more public law enforcement routes rather than subterfuge. She felt a bit sad as she wondered how well she really knew her friend. But then she brightened as she realized that since he was learning the art of cheese in Stormwind, they would be able to spend time together. All people changed–she had changed. She could get to know him as he was now.
Laila told them of her wines and the rebuilding of Westfall, and what had become of all the folks they had known there. Eric had been able to reclaim his family’s land and had married a young woman of Elwynn Forest. They already had a babe who looked like she would be a strapping lass that took after her father, and another on the way. Keegan had opened an ale house in Moonbrook that was quite popular with the local lads and was well on his way to doing his family proud as a successful merchant. Lorell had moved on somewhere in her wanderings and Laila had heard nothing of her since. When they arrived in Stormwind, it was full night and they were all tired. Elsharin would show Laila to her new quarters and Edmond had to wake up early to start with his cheese, so he was going to go straight to bed. They made a plan to meet in the afternoon and take supper together, however, and Laila was pleased to see that it seemed their friendship would easily resume, as naturally as ever.
Before she and Elsharin moved onward towards the Mage District, Laila stopped at the top of the walk and looked out over the sea, back towards Westfall. She wondered if she would ever truly have a home. It seemed just as she had found one, it was ripped away from her. But she knew that deep down she hadn’t been ultimately satisfied with that simple life. It had made her happy, but she still had dreams that were unfulfilled and she was young enough to continue to hope for them. The upheaval had set her back on that road and she couldn’t help but be excited at the new possibilities lining up before her.
