Two Stowaways

If Antonidas had known that Liam had set his sights on his apprentice and was brazenly planning to use her ship to sneak aboard, he would never have simply said a few words before teleporting back to Dalaran.

With no Archmage around to keep watch, Liam, being a rogue, easily found out Jaina's travel plans. As long as Wilton arrived in time to meet him before the ship set sail, the two of them could slip aboard and stow away.

Liam had naturally forgotten all about his original, harebrained plan to steal a ship. Any ship the two of them could manage to sail away in would certainly be too small. Crossing the Great Sea in it would be impossible, so that plan, cooked up on a whim, was better left behind.

The following evening, Wilton showed up at the little tavern where the two had agreed to meet, quite a bit earlier than their appointed time.

"We heirs from these great families really are dispensable. I've been away from home for over three years, and the only person who even remembered me was that coachman who's going a little senile."

Wilton stood by Liam's table, looking gloomy. His usual smile had vanished, replaced by the troubled expression of someone who had been treated unfairly and wanted to vent to a close friend. He looked every bit the child.

But that was only right. He was just a sixteen-year-old boy, after all. It would have been far more troubling if he always kept up that stiff façade.

After draining the more-than-half-full mug of ale in front of Liam, Wilton plopped down in the chair across from him, making the table and chairs bang loudly.

Watching Wilton's sudden childish outburst, Liam finally realized how much the past three years had affected the boy. He couldn't help smiling at Wilton. "An heir might not matter much to a great family, but remember this: no one in this world is truly dispensable."

"Then why are there hundreds of people on the island, and not one of them can even be bothered to mention my name?" Wilton was clearly furious at his family's attitude. Liam didn't know what had happened during his visit home, but it certainly hadn't been a pleasant "family visit."

"How's your brother doing now?"

Liam abruptly changed the subject, but after all their years together, they had a tacit understanding. Wilton immediately understood what Liam meant.

"What do you think? Now that I'm gone, he's naturally first in line to inherit. He's living well. He took over a few of the family's farms recently, and apparently he's managing them pretty well."

"That's more like it. You were just too caught up in your own worries. Come sit down and have a drink." Seeing Wilton's tone soften and the indignation fade from his expression, Liam knew he had come around.

"Mm, you're right. I've already withdrawn from the competition, so it wouldn't do them any good to keep bringing me up."

Wilton took the mug of ale the server brought over, clinked it against Liam's, and took another long gulp. Only then did his expression return to its usual calm.

"Exactly. Take it from me—even an heir has to wait ten or twenty years before he can really take charge. Who knows what the world will be like twenty years from now?"

"Fine. I'll look into things tomorrow, and then we'll set sail right away. Lake Darrowmere is far too small for the likes of us. From now on, only the Great Sea will be big enough to contain us."

As he spoke, Wilton slammed his mug onto the table with a clunk. Now that he had suddenly shaken off his gloom, he seemed a little worked up, drawing the attention of quite a few people in the tavern.

"You sure change moods fast. Don't worry, I've already picked our destination. This time, we won't have to go to the trouble of finding a ship. We'll stow away."

Seeing Wilton in better spirits made Liam happy, too. He told him about meeting Jaina and explained the stowaway plan that followed.

"Stow away? Kul Tiras? Do you know the place? I've never been there..." Wilton asked dubiously, hearing a plan that sounded only marginally more reliable than stealing a ship and sailing off.

"Right, I know it. We'll go to Kul Tiras, poach a few talented people, then find our own materials and build the finest ship in the world!"

Liam declared this with great enthusiasm, his face animated, as if the plan had already succeeded and the world's finest ship had already been built.

Across from him, Wilton could only stare in disbelief. I was the one who sailed that crappy little boat back last time... When will he ever stop taking on everything himself...?

Liam wasn't ready to discuss the future of the Barov Family with Wilton just yet. Even though the two of them were now fairly close friends and partners, it was best not to dwell too much on things that hadn't happened yet.

Besides, there was still quite some time before Ner'zhul finished dealing with the spiders digging tunnels underground, united Northrend, and turned his attention to the human kingdoms. It was hard to say what would happen in the coming years, so there was no need to start worrying about what might happen a decade from now.

Furthermore, the Barov Family's downfall stemmed from its own original sin: greed. If they didn't change, then even without Kel'Thuzad and the Lich King, they would still conspire with others.

Managing to get Wilton out was already good enough. Liam had no lofty ambition to save all of humanity. The Barov Family's affairs were for Wilton to resolve himself.

Early that morning, Liam appeared in front of Jaina's ship, holding a small box in his arms.

"Stop! Who are you?"

A crewman on watch called out a warning and blocked Liam just as he was about to step onto the gangplank.

"This is the new cook. He'll be working directly under me from now on. Go on about your business; I'll handle things here."

A voice came from behind Liam. The guard knew the voice and face well. It was the first mate of Jaina's ship, the Mist of the Maiden.

"That's strange. Since when has there been a cook on board? Let alone a new one." The guard was puzzled, but since his superior had spoken, he stepped aside without asking any more questions.

Not long afterward, the guard saw the first mate approaching from a distance again. Without greeting him, he headed straight aboard.

The guard asked instinctively, "F-first mate, when did you get off the ship again?"

"What do you mean, 'again'? Keep your eyes on your post. Do I really need to tell you how important today is? If anything goes wrong, you'll answer to me!"

The first mate clearly disliked the question for no apparent reason. After warning the guard, he headed straight onto the ship.

"You sneak someone aboard yourself, then pretend nothing happened and lecture someone else! If anything goes wrong, I'll be the first to rat you out."

The guard muttered resentfully, then put the little incident out of his mind and went back to his post.