Chapter 1
Family
In a mostly undisturbed room a lone table sat, clean and polished. A small pile of papers sat atop it, with a chair in front. Everything else in the study seemed to be covered in inch-thick dust. Aside from the papers, it appeared that no-one had been there for some time. The door leading to the room opened, and a blood elf entered and moved towards the desk. He was pale, almost sickly looking, and had long black hair hanging loose down his back. Despite a face that had the initial appearance of youth, there were lines that almost looked like cracks, adding a false age to his visage. The elf lowered himself into the chair and stared at the paperwork in front of him.
He hated it here.
“You’re home,” a voice called from the doorway, “I was wondering when you’d be back this month.”
The seated elf took a box from his robes, opened it, and removed a bottle of ink and a quill. Placing the ink on the table, he fingered the quill in his left hand. Like his face, his fingers had cracks on them, and the tips seemed almost charred black. He reached for the top paper and murmured, “I asked you to stop saying that. It’s not home anymore.”
“You say that every time, too, and yet here you are.” The figure in the doorway stepped into the room. He looked like a slightly younger version of the elf at the table. He had the same long, black hair and much of the same shape in his face. He looked much healthier, however. His skin, while pale, had just a bit more color, and there were no marks or blemishes on his skin like the one at the table. One of his eyes glowed red instead of the usual green of the blood elves.
The older elf slammed the quill down upon the table and turned to face the other, “What do you want, Valonae? You know how this works: you take care of the property and markets, and I – as head of house – sign the paperwork and pay the bills. That’s ho—“
“Head of house? What house?!” Valonae snapped, voice rising in anger, “We’re the only two left, Aquizit! That hardly makes a House! Plus, you disappear for weeks at a time, and my job is hardly worthy of any prestige in Silvermoon. At least when I was a Farstrider I still had my pride!”
Aquizit sighed, folding his hands in his lap, “You’re still upset about that?”
“YOU SHOT OUT MY EYE! You ruined my career! And don’t say you fixed it,” Val shouted, cutting off Quiz as he opened his mouth to retort, “apparently the Lodge disapproves of having fel magic grafted to my body. Who would have ever thought?” The younger elf’s body shook with fury as he pointed a finger at his red eye, “So yes, you fixed it. You fixed it with … what did you call it? A soul shard? I see things now, Quiz. Voices that aren’t mine whisper in my head, and it’s been that way for years! I don’t know if it’s from the stone, or the shadow you hit me with, but you did this to me! You did this to your own brother!”
The warlock frowned at his sibling as a look of disappointment started to grow on his face. As the list of crimes assaulted him, the disappointment turned to pity, and then to guilt. “Val, why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“You’re never around,” Val replied, his anger having simmered down into a tired sadness. “You come home, sign the documents, and give me the gold for the month from – whatever it is you do. It’s probably better that I don’t know, I’m sure. Though how they haven’t traced anything back to me, I couldn’t say.” He laughed, suddenly, “What’d you do, change your name?”
Aquizit coughed, glancing down at the floor. Val’s laughter died quickly, “You did? You did?! I cannot believe you! Was being a Sundancer a bit too bright for that precious Mandate you talk about? Did being linked back to here and me shame you that much?”
“Val, you know I can’t talk about that,” the older brother said, the frown returning to his face. “Especially here, with the war basically over and Horde leadership friendly with the Alliance. The Mandate’s having trouble adjusting to it. So who knows if I’ll even need to talk about it soon.” Quiz slumped in his chair, the paperwork all but forgotten behind him. “I’m still not comfortable here… or welcome… since the old draenei shoved M’uru in the Sunwell. All that Light, it just,” he paused, searching for the word, “it itches.”
Val grunted, “It should burn, is what it should do, for all that you’ve done.” His expression softened, though, as he saw Quiz’s surprised and wounded gaze. “But,” he continued, hesitantly, “you’re at least still paying for the property, and me, so…” he shrugged, unsure of what else to say.
The brothers sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the dusty floor. “You don’t have to be as rigid as your Mandate, brother. Have you thought about … giving up the fel?” Val’s question pierced the silence like a lance.
Aquizit snapped his head up, staring at Val with wide-eyed wonder. “Give it up? It’s been over ten years, the fel’s in my blood. It might kill me to try and purge it.”
Valonae shrugged, “Yeah, and the Sunwell was full of Scourge magic before Velen did his stuff to it. I’m just saying maybe a new perspective can help.”
The warlock wasn’t looking at his brother anymore, but rather staring at the sunlight streaming in through a dust-covered window. Another few minutes of silence passed before Quiz murmured, “I guess it’s worth looking into. I could Seek a new Truth, like I used to in Northrend. I probably wouldn’t feel stretched all the time, and I could come… home, with Dawnstar being mostly repaired by now, I mean.” He looked up to smile weakly at his younger brother, who returned a grin.
“Times change, I guess. I should too.”