The Sunstrider's Gaze

The next day.

While reviewing documents in his mage tower, the elven mage Hadren happened upon Orendo's special letter of recommendation.

Delon Sefrosa's son.

That man's son as well.

After some thought, the elf decided he should report it.

Holding Orendo's special letter of recommendation, Hadren went to one of the six tallest mage towers in Violet Academy.

"Good day. May the Sunwell forever favor you, Hadren."

"Good day, Rommath."

After greeting a colleague, Hadren took out the special letter of recommendation. "There is something I would like to bring to His Highness's attention."

"His Highness is having breakfast. He already knows you have arrived, so you may go in," Rommath said softly.

Hadren nodded and entered a long corridor. Under the watchful eyes of several elves, he entered a room.

There, an exceptionally handsome male elf with golden hair and blue eyes sat in his seat, smiling at him.

"You are in luck, Hadren. Quel'Thalas has just sent us some fresh Bloodthistle today. I had the chef mince it, mix it with cream, and serve it with Dalaran roast veal. It tastes wonderful."

"Your Highness, thank you. But I have already had breakfast. I came because there is something I believe you should see." Hadren waved the special letter of recommendation in his hand at the elven prince, Kael'thas Sunstrider.

"Very well. Let me see it." The prince's voice was as gentle as ever.

Hadren respectfully presented the letter.

The elven mage watched as his prince read the special letter of recommendation with great seriousness.

"A letter of recommendation? The writer is a lord north of Hillsbrad Foothills, the Count of Tarren Mill." After carefully reading the letter, Prince Kael'thas looked up at Mage Hadren. "Is there anything about this human count that I should take note of? I do not see what is so special about it."

"The human Count of Tarren Mill is nothing of consequence. What matters is the surname of the apprentice he recommended..." Hadren looked at His Highness and prompted, "Sefrosa. This apprentice's surname is Sefrosa."

"Sefrosa..." The prince's long golden brows rose slightly. "I seem to have heard that name somewhere."

Mage Hadren sighed inwardly and prompted him again. "Lianda, Your Highness. Lady Lianda. Her human husband's surname was Sefrosa. And I met this apprentice mage yesterday. He is a half-elf, half-human."

"Oh?" The elven prince finally seemed to remember something. "You are saying Lianda's son has come to Dalaran?"

Hadren nodded. "Most likely. He resembles Princess Lianda somewhat."

"Heh... how interesting. My arrogant cousin has been missing for ten years now, has she not? I did not expect her son to be so grown already." Kael'thas chuckled softly.

"Hadren, what do you think I should do?"

"I merely came to report this to you, so that you would be aware of it." Mage Hadren lowered his head.

"Leave him alone." After a while, Kael'thas said, "He is not an elf. We have no responsibility for him. Let us pretend we know nothing."

"As you command, Your Highness." Hadren replied, glancing at Kael'thas. "Then I shall take my leave?"

"Mhm." Kael'thas nodded gently. "Go. Thank you, Hadren. May the Sunwell's radiance shine upon you forever."

"May the Sunstrider be with the Sunwell..." Hadren offered the blessing in a low voice, using the customary blessing ordinary elves gave to members of the royal family.

Hadren had been gone for a while.

The prince's close companion, the Dalaran magister Rommath, entered.

"My dear companion, my closest Rommath." The prince suddenly addressed the magister with a smile. "How long has it been since you last visited a public class?"

The magister, who had come to report on other matters, froze. Uncertainly, he said, "A long time. Perhaps ten years."

"I think..."

His Highness looked at him.

"Perhaps you ought to visit a public classroom as well. That way, our human friends will not think the elves are indifferent to the academy."

Though the prince had only spoken in a suggestive tone, Rommath nodded without hesitation. "I will go at once!"

To his surprise, two hours later—

Rommath returned before his prince with a look of astonishment.

"Well, Rommath?" Prince Kael'thas appeared to be asking casually.

"He did not go. That apprentice named Sefrosa did not attend his very first public class!" Rommath spoke words surprising enough to astonish Lord Sunstrider himself.

"I went through all three public classrooms. He was in none of them."

For the first time, emotion stirred on the elven prince's perpetually gentle, calm face. His eyes widened slightly.

After a long while, the prince from Quel'Thalas softly murmured to himself, "As arrogant as my cousin."

Elsewhere.

When the sun stood high in the sky and shone directly upon the earth, Orendo, who had skipped class on his first day of school, slowly woke from a chair in some corner of the Great Magic Library.

The young nobleman rubbed his neck, which had stiffened and begun to ache after spending the night asleep on the table.

"Sleeping on a table is so uncomfortable..." he muttered. Then he looked at the clock in the library—a timekeeping device passed down from the gnomes, which divided a day into twenty-eight hours. It was a method of timekeeping deeply favored by human nobles and mages.

"It is already afternoon?"

Damn it!

Orendo remembered his current identity and what he had missed as an apprentice.

"Public class! It must already be over, right?!" Thinking this, he hurriedly stood, jumped a few times to loosen up, then sprinted wildly outside.

As he ran out of the library, Orendo spotted someone he knew.

"Hey! Good afternoon, Kel'Thuzad." He greeted him.

The latter did not respond. He merely stared coldly at Orendo with an odd look until Orendo's figure disappeared from sight.

What a strange fellow, Kel'Thuzad thought.

Kel'Thuzad entered the Great Magic Library and paused at the entrance to the vast first floor.

"ALah'Alsa!" A syllable left the mage's mouth. At the summons of arcane magic, a pale-blue arcane elemental respectfully appeared before him.

"Greetings, Administrator." The elemental could actually speak, and when it opened its mouth, it spoke standard Dalaran-accented Common.

"I would like to know how long that apprentice who just left stayed here, and how many books he borrowed." Kel'Thuzad, one of the library's part-time administrators and the junior mage responsible for organizing the first through third floors, asked softly.

"Apprentice Orendo Sefrosa's stay in the library lasted 25 hours, 36 minutes, and 75 seconds. Number of books borrowed: 489."

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