Chapter 1: Familiar Grounds

Meanwhile, far south of where Arthas and John were, the sun was setting over the capital of Stormwind, the winds had grown silent during the evening as Lienna walked through the streets. It was a tiresome job to be a city guard, but an important one.

It had been surprisingly quiet the whole day and as the night came closer, people had left the streets and gone back inside. Lienna had almost finished her last round through the trade districts and was looking forward a long night’s sleep.

“Finally some rest”, she said. “Even if less commotion is a good thing, it made they days go very slowly”. As she passed a corner she heard something, or someone, whispering.

“Who’s there? Get out here in the open and you won’t get hurt!”, she yelled with a strong voice and reached for her axe.

Slowly, with hands held high, he stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

“F…father? It’s you! Come quickly, you can not be seen here!”

She swiftly sheathed her axe and dragged him down a narrow path into the lower districts then turned to him. “You’re banished from the city, you can’t just go wandering around here! You’ll be thrown in the stockades!”, she whispered angrily.

“I came because I wanted to see my daughter again, is that so much to ask?”
Lienna looked around the area before answering.
“But that’s not why you’re here, is it? You’re in trouble again, aren’t you?”

“No, well, not yet at least. I need to relay some information.”
“Information?”
“The Scourge are wiping out village after village and yet nothing is done to stop them. “Anyone who stands in his way is either slain or turned into a Death Knight by Arthas himself, he is turning our own people against us!”
“I didn’t realise it had become so bad. But isn’t the Council doing anything about this? They can’t just let Arthas wander up to their doorstep without putting up a fight.”

“Less then a year ago I was banished for something I hadn’t done, and this is the result. I was the only person that dared to act, the one that could get the Council off their lazy behinds and get them to do something about this war, because this IS a war and if they take too long to realise it, there won’t be anything we can do to stop him.”

“I’ll help father, but I’m just a city guard, there’s little I can do to influence the Council.”
“You won’t need to, all you need to do is to get the guards away from the Keep, so that I can get inside…”

Lienna gazed into his eyes with a confused look on her face.

“You’re not suggesting I help you assassinate the Council do you? That’s insane, I would never do such a thing!”
“Calm down, of course I don’t want them dead, although the thought has crossed my mind. No, my plan is to get inside and talk to the Chancellor. She is the one that framed me after all, I'm sure she’ll be happily surprised by a visit.”

“Supreme Chancellor these days”, she corrected him.

Joe Frowned upon her response then continued to brief her on his plan.

“Right, hopefully I’ll be able to persuade her into sending troops to the front lines. Wait! Did you hear that?”

They heard footsteps, faint at first but growing louder, then suddenly a lantern appeared, one of the guards had heard them talking.

“City guard, you know you’re not supposed to be wandering the streets at this hour, get out here!”