At last free of the pestering nobles, Arthas went alone to the corridor outside the garden and sat on a marble bench.
Even in Lordaeron, he had never cared for banquets attended by practically every member of a nation's high society. Had his status as prince not usually required his presence, Arthas would rather have honed his swordsmanship on the training grounds.
With VanCleef on board, I can choose a foothold in Kalimdor.
Enjoying the gentle evening breeze, Arthas considered his next steps. He had actually decided on that foothold long ago: the original site of Theramore, in southeastern Dustwallow Marsh.
Although Dustwallow Marsh had a far worse climate than most other parts of Kalimdor, almost none of the continent's native powers had a presence there. There were only some wild beasts and elemental creatures.
Once he drove the Orcs to Kalimdor, Theramore could also serve as an outpost, while the Orcs could act as a buffer between him and Kalimdor's other powers.
Though Kalimdor was far more untamed than the Eastern Kingdoms, it concealed one of the oldest and most powerful peoples in the world. They were the lingering splendor of the ancient elven empire, the children of the stars, the elves of the night-the Kaldorei.
The Blackwater Trading Company's ships had sailed to Kalimdor long ago, but encounters with Night Elves remained rare. Almost all of them now lived on Mount Hyjal, occasionally venturing into Ashenvale and Felwood below. Outside the forests, Kaldorei were seldom seen.
Arthas had also sent people to seek out the Tauren who lived there. They were a people who loved peace and nature, but they should currently be under threat from the Centaur Tribe. So long as Arthas offered help, earning their trust should be easy.
In truth, the hardest people to form an alliance with were these distant kin of the High Elves. Though they did not use magic as the High Elves did, the same arrogance was branded into their bones.
Even when Azeroth once again faced the threat of the Burning Legion, the Kaldorei stubbornly believed they were the only force capable of protecting the world and disdained contact with other mortal races.
Blessed by the World Tree and the Dragon Aspects, the Night Elves possessed eternal life and everlasting youth. Their ranks abounded with powerful heroes who had survived the War of the Ancients, and they had deep ties to the Wild Gods.
Yet the long passage of time had made some of them forget how terrifying the Burning Legion was.
Had the overwhelming power of Archimonde, the Burning Legion's "Defiler," not later shattered the elves' arrogance, they might have remained shut away on Mount Hyjal, refusing contact with the outside world.
Arthas understood all too well that the true threats facing Azeroth, whether the Old Gods or the Burning Legion, were not enemies any single people could withstand. He had to unite every force he could.
This was not a game world where endlessly respawning adventurers served as a million Highlords. It was a real planet, where even one wrong step could lead to utter ruin.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Jaina?"
Arthas emerged from his thoughts and turned to find Jaina's smiling face. The mage raised a slender, pale finger and tapped his forehead, smiling as she said, "It's been a long time, my prince."
"It has, Jaina."
Arthas pulled Jaina into a deep embrace. Looking at her mage robes, he asked, "I didn't see you when the guests were introduced at noon. I was disappointed for quite a while. Please forgive me for not visiting you in Dalaran this past year."
"Oh, our Prince Arthas is such a busy man," Jaina teased, her expression playful. "And yet you still managed to notice an insignificant little mage like me?"
"That's where you're wrong. You're the only one I could notice in a crowd."
Arthas gently kissed his fiancée's smooth forehead and brushed back the strands of hair beside her ear. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing much. One of my magic arrays suddenly malfunctioned just as I was about to leave. Trying to save it held me up."
Jaina stepped out of her lover's embrace and complained, "That damned magic array could have gone wrong at any other time, but it just had to blow up when I was about to set off!"
"Master Antonidas didn't scold you, did he?"
"No. That array wasn't very stable to begin with. Keeping it running steadily for over two months was already quite an achievement."
Jaina tugged at the hem of her mage robes. "But I didn't have time to change."
"Actually, those mage robes suit you very well. I rather like them."
Dalaran's mage robes were generally tailored to order. Jaina's outfit cost more than an ordinary formal gown, and robes designed for softness and comfort were far more pleasant to wear than an evening gown that constricted the bust and waist.
Not to mention that Dalaran's robe designers knew their craft. With a violet base, elegant gold and silver trim, and exceptionally luxurious fabric, these mage robes were little different from a formal gown, apart from the absence of an exaggerated cinched waist.
Arthas also noticed the Eye of Magic emblem of Dalaran's Kirin Tor Council embroidered on the purple fabric of Jaina's robes.
"You've joined the Kirin Tor Council?"
The Kirin Tor was a council formed by Dalaran's elite mages, dedicated to fighting every threat to Azeroth's existence. Membership was itself a mark of considerable power.
"Yes, it happened last week. I'm a member of the Kirin Tor now, too."
Jaina did not consider it anything to be proud of. After all, many mages in Dalaran were stronger than she was. Besides her own considerable abilities, the more important reasons she had joined the Kirin Tor Council so early were that her father ruled Kul Tiras and her teacher headed Dalaran's Council of Six.
"Congratulations. I just hope those mages' eccentric muttering doesn't rub off on you," Arthas said.
"Haha, how could it? Besides, not every mage is the way you imagine." After hearing Arthas say he liked her outfit, Jaina, who had never particularly liked formal gowns anyway, simply abandoned the idea of changing.
Still, Arthas was right. Dalaran really did have some old mages who muttered incessantly. They were not discussing anything mysterious; they had simply become nagging old men because their apprentices kept making a mess of things.
Mage apprentices were unquestionably among the most unstable elements in a laboratory. Some lazy apprentice who had failed to listen carefully might misuse a mentor's wand and turn themselves or a classmate into a frog.
Compared with the rare apprentices who could even blow up a laboratory in a mage tower, however, those were minor incidents.
After sharing a few amusing anecdotes with Arthas, Jaina had completely stopped minding that he had not come to visit her. Then she suddenly remembered something that might interest him.
"By the way, Arthas, did you hear that Archmage Kel'Thuzad, one of Dalaran's Council of Six, was expelled?"
Arthas nodded. Of course he knew. The Secret Council Bureau's spies in Dalaran had been watching the Archmage's movements very closely.
"I've heard a little. You were in Dalaran, so you should know more about what happened than I do. Could you tell me?"
"It happened early last month. Kel'Thuzad was stripped of all his titles and expelled from Dalaran for secretly researching necromancy." Jaina recalled what had happened. Her teacher, Antonidas, had even lost his temper over it. "My teacher was furious. He asked how Dalaran could have produced such a disgrace."
Arthas coughed. If Kel'Thuzad's few amateurish necromantic tricks already make him a disgrace, what does that make me?
Still, this was indeed no time to bring necromancy into the open. The Death Knights created by the Warlock Gul'dan during the Second War had left humanity with far too much trauma.
"Does anyone know where this former Archmage is now?"
"I don't know about that. But I happened to hear someone in my teacher's mage tower say that Kel'Thuzad didn't return to his hometown. After leaving Dalaran, he headed south. The last time anyone saw him was at Southshore's harbor."
That was much the same as the intelligence Arthas's spies had obtained: after being expelled from Dalaran, Kel'Thuzad had immediately packed his belongings, hurried to Southshore's docks, and boarded a ship bound for Northrend in the far north.
It looks like this Archmage has already received the Lich King's summons, Arthas thought. The Lich King has turned his attention to the human kingdoms, too. I wonder whether he and the Dreadlords watching him have noticed me.
His network of informants had already begun to take shape in Northrend. Although they could not readily obtain intelligence directly from Icecrown Glacier, the heart of the Lich King's domain, the movements of the Lich King's forces in Northrend gave Arthas a rough idea of how far his plans had progressed.
Arthas took Jaina's hand. "Let's leave this mage and his forbidden experiments aside for now. Dinner should be starting soon. Varian is waiting for us."
"Oh no! I was so busy talking to you that I forgot to put on my makeup!"
"It's all right. Tonight isn't a formal social occasion. I had Varian ask the cooks to prepare plenty of Kul Tiras specialties. Are you sure you still want to go and put on makeup?"
"Really? Is there Kul tiramisu?"
"Of course. Let's go!"
Before you continue