Jaina's brain momentarily short-circuited when Duke casually branded a king a bastard, but then pure joy exploded through her chest—this meant Duke had finally stopped treating her as some random outsider looking in through the window.
Well, she wasn't just any outsider anymore. But if she harbored dreams of becoming Duke's closest confidant or even his official wife, Jaina still faced a mountain of obstacles that would make climbing Mount Hyjal look relaxing.
After some persistent interrogation, Jaina finally grasped why Duke's rage burned hotter than dragon's breath.
Whether you should applaud or throttle Anasterian Sunstrider remains a cosmic mystery. This ancient bastard had indeed mastered the dark arts of political manipulation after thousands of years of scheming practice. The supposedly magnificent Sun King—worshipped by elves everywhere—could play dirty politics with the best of them.
While high elves strutted around proclaiming their noble superiority and practicing isolationism so extreme it bordered on religious fanaticism, this didn't mean they'd all had their brains surgically removed. They'd become obsessively devoted to their shiny new magical defense network beyond all rational thought, yet the psychological scars from their last catastrophic war still made their collective soul writhe in agony.
In the original timeline, during the Second Battle of the Dark Portal, only the outer edges of Eversong Woods had been torched by orcish flames.
But fate had decided to personally skull-fuck the elves this time around, delivering suffering that made their previous troubles seem quaint. Orgrim's rampage had incinerated most of Eversong Forest, crushing them twice in succession, slaughtering 300,000 soldiers and civilians, and driving the survivors to Silvermoon City's very gates. This catastrophic humiliation had traumatized the elven leadership far beyond anything they'd previously endured.
Because they'd grown sick of Terenas treating them as disposable pawns, Quel'Thalas and Gilneas had exploited Deathwing's masquerade as Lord Prestor to bolt from the Alliance. The constant friction between Quel'Thalas and Lordaeron over the past decade had also left high elves viewing the Alliance with the same enthusiasm they'd reserve for week-old fish. So when Duke returned brandishing apocalyptic warnings, Quel'Thalas showed zero interest in crawling back to the Alliance.
And here's where things got magnificently fucked up.
The high elves could despise the Alliance and ignore Terenas until the sun exploded, but they absolutely didn't dare completely dismiss Duke's warnings. Fourteen years ago, Duke had sent Alleria racing back to Quel'Thalas with desperate alarms, but the arrogant high-ranking elves had responded with the enthusiasm of dead fish, resulting in catastrophic losses that still haunted their nightmares.
This had birthed the Sun King's current twisted psychological state—he refused to grovel back to the Alliance while simultaneously terrified that ignoring the warnings would trigger another apocalypse.
Following his advisors' Machiavellian counsel, Anasterian had crafted a scheme so dirty it would make a demon blush—he'd convinced the ranger captains who'd once served alongside Sylvanas, before her promotion to ranger general, to flood her with letters expressing their bone-deep terror about the situation and their nightmares of watching Eversong Woods burn again.
As mortals say, home calls to the heart with chains of steel. Sylvanas had maintained correspondence with those rangers throughout her exile. After receiving desperate pleas from Lor'themar Theron, Halduron Brightwing, and others, Sylvanas reached a decision that would reshape everything—she would temporarily return to Quel'Thalas as a daughter of the elven people.
Duke had read that handwritten letter so many times the parchment nearly disintegrated, and every reading ignited fresh fury in his soul:
"Duke, hearing of your survival fills my heart with relief beyond measure. Are our eldest sister and third sister safe? They must be well, otherwise you would have sent word to Lirath and me immediately. My gratitude knows no bounds for rescuing us from Quel'Thalas so we no longer had to endure the insufferable faces of those bastard Silvermoon Council members. Throughout these ten years, Ilucia and the others have treated Lirath and me with extraordinary kindness, and I have discovered genuine happiness."
Then came the devastating pivot.
"However, learning that Quel'Thalas once again faces extinction has awakened something I cannot control. Elwynn Forest holds great beauty, but these trees remain tragically stunted. They will never reach the majestic heights of Eversong Forest's ancient giants. Even if they somehow achieved identical stature, they would never be MY Eversong Forest. Two thousand years spent among those sacred groves have carved permanent marks into my very soul. If I must watch Eversong Forest face destruction while sitting idle and powerless, I will never forgive myself for such cowardice."
Duke's depression had already reached crushing depths by this point. Ten years represented nothing but a fleeting moment for high elves blessed with millennia of life. Without him, Alleria, and Vereesa present, Sylvanas had never developed genuine loyalty to Elwynn Forest.
"Please forgive this act of pure selfishness. I have decided to return alone. This decision carries no connection to the Sun King or my friends. Since my elder sister achieved legendary status fighting trolls and earned worldwide worship, I absolutely refuse to pale in her shadow. If Eversong Forest faces invasion again, I will either return as a heroine capable of standing as her equal, or let me die in the forest that owns my heart completely."
Duke had also shared this letter with Jaina.
Duke fell into brooding silence. He was beginning to understand why historical Sylvanas had chosen to fight to her death defending Eversong Forest. She'd completely enraged Arthas, been murdered for her defiance, then raised as a death banshee, and finally ascended to become the Forsaken's terrifying queen.
First, her burning desire to defend her homeland had completely consumed her rational mind.
Second, her competitive spirit and rebellious nature had driven her toward that suicidal decision.
After all, in the original timeline, her eldest sister had vanished somewhere in Outland's hellish landscape, while her third sister had been delayed in Dalaran handling critical magical research.
After finishing the letter, Jaina released a heavy sigh: "Lady Sylvanas has always possessed an incredibly strong will and unshakeable convictions. She's definitely not someone who can be talked out of dangerous decisions! Moreover, we lack any standing to demand her return. However, the Sun King has demonstrated remarkable cunning in refusing Alliance membership while expecting Alliance protection for Quel'Thalas."
This revealed the Sun King's ruthless brilliance.
Anasterian, that ancient fox, understood perfectly the deep connection between Duke and Alleria, and he'd positioned Sylvanas at Eversong Forest's most vulnerable southern front with theatrical fanfare. If Duke refused to rescue Quel'Thalas and allowed Sylvanas to die in battle, his personal relationships would explode into chaos, igniting the two most dangerous conflicts imaginable!
Conversely, if Duke dispatched massive military forces, the high elves could play both offense and defense with masterful flexibility.
If the Scourge failed to penetrate their defenses, the elves could remain safely behind their magical barriers while boasting endlessly about their defensive array's superiority. Even if 200,000 Alliance troops remained stranded at sea slowly starving, the elves wouldn't contribute a single copper coin toward military expenses or acknowledge any debt—after all, we never requested your assistance, and we elves have severed Alliance ties. If you dare enter our territory, you're committing an act of war against sovereign Quel'Thalas.
If the Scourge proved powerful enough to shatter the elves' precious new magical defenses, they could still scream for emergency assistance at the last possible moment!
The kind of help that arrives instantly on demand.
Your Alliance commander's sister-in-law remains in our custody. Will you race to her rescue?
Duke studied Jaina's intelligent face, silently requesting her perspective on this impossible situation.
Jaina drew a deep breath, recognizing that another crucial test had arrived to challenge her resolve. "If Quel'Thalas refuses to sign binding treaties and rejoin the Alliance under strict conditions, then we rescue Lady Sylvanas alone."
Duke's expression transformed into something predatory, his pupils contracting to pinpricks, and unconsciously his teeth had bitten through his lower lip until blood trickled down his chin.
As expected... would history repeat its cruelest patterns once again?