Menethil Harbor.
Night deepened as the warships slowly docked.
Exhausted soldiers disembarked one after another to rest in the rising port city.
The Economic Mutual Aid Society of Kul Tiras had prepared a lavish banquet to welcome home the heroes who had fought at Southshore.
Jaina had no desire to attend the banquet, because she was not its host.
Rowan had only been back at her side for a few days before disappearing again.
This was the third day since the fighting at Southshore had ended. By rights, he should have returned with Sylvanas's reconnaissance squad.
Uneasy, Jaina waited for them at the Teleportation Temple near the harbor.
The harbor temple had only just been completed, and its lighting was not yet fully installed. Jaina summoned Cinderfire, bringing a faint glow to the gloomy hall.
Whoosh. A high-pitched whine of arcane energy rang out, and the gleaming crystal inscriptions shimmered with purple arcane light.
Jaina shook off her gloom and waited with a smile for the Teleportation Spell to finish.
Light flashed, and azure rings drifted up and down as Sylvanas and Capernian arrived precisely at Menethil Harbor.
When Jaina saw that only the two of them had returned from the entire reconnaissance squad, her expression changed abruptly.
"Where's Rowan?" Jaina asked Sylvanas, her face cold.
Jaina was no fool. From the little details of their everyday lives and the way they spoke to each other, she knew something had happened between Sylvanas and her husband during that journey to the Shadowlands.
Sylvanas was famously an icy beauty, poor at conversation and often keeping to herself. Yet that was precisely what had given her away to Jaina. Whenever her gaze fell on Rowan, the cold indifference vanished, naturally giving way to warm tenderness.
Confronted by Rowan's lawful wife demanding answers,