Marriage

Arthas whistled as he strode toward his lodgings. Suddenly, a commotion made him stop.

"No, Father! You can't do this."

"Jaina, I'm tired of this conversation. You have no choice."

"Father, please, don't do this!"

Arthas moved a little closer to Jaina's room. The door to the princess's residence was ajar, Arthas listened intently to the sounds coming from behind it. Terenas doted on Jaina so much; what request had her father made of Jaina that would drive Jaina to plead with him so desperately just to be able to refuse?

Footsteps sounded from inside the room. Arthas immediately hid, watching Terenas storm off. Judging from his expression, the old King seemed very angry with his fourteen-year-old daughter.

Jaina was still sobbing intermittently. Arthas couldn't bear it any longer. He pushed open the door and asked, "I'm sorry, sister. I just overheard your conversation with Father, but... what happened?"

"This is none of your business, Arthas." Jaina collapsed onto the bed.

Arthas's eyes were filled with confusion. "Sister, please tell me, what happened?"

Jaina remained lying motionless on the bed, but slowly stopped crying. Finally, she sat up, tears still streaming down her face. "I'm sorry to have you see me like this, Arthas."

"What exactly did Father say?"

"He wants to force me to marry that Prysto."

Arthas blinked in surprise. "Jaina, you're only fourteen, far too young to get married."

Jaina took out a handkerchief and wiped her swollen eyes. "That's what I said too, but Father said it doesn't matter. We'll get engaged first, and when I come of age, I'll marry Lord Prysto."

"What...!" Prince of Lordaeron stared wide-eyed in bewilderment, awkwardly saying, "He's very popular, everyone is close to him. And... I've seen him, he's very handsome."

"You don't understand, Arthas. I don't care how popular he is, how handsome he is, or how kind he is. I'm just furious that I had absolutely no choice in this matter. I want to know if I am an object or a person? My father just gave me away to someone else like that."

"You... you don't Prysto?"

"Love him?" Jaina's bloodshot blue eyes narrowed angrily, revealing a look of disgust, as if Arthas were Prysto. "I don't even know him! We're practically... oh no, what's the point of saying all this? I know everyone says that arranged marriages are very common among royalty and nobility, but I always thought my father was different from them, but now..."

Arthas hadn't expected it either. In fact, he'd hardly considered what marriage would be like. He'd asked Nathanos, only to be met with a blank and bewildered look. But Jaina was right; using marriage to forge and strengthen political alliances was common among the nobility. Not only Jaina, but her father Terenas had likely already chosen a wife for him.

"Jaina, I'm really sad," Arthas said sincerely, perhaps out of a shared sorrow. "Do you have someone you love? Perhaps you can convince your father that you can marry someone more suitable... someone who will make you happy."

Jaina shook her head in anguish. "It's no use. He didn't even ask what I thought. When he proposed to me marrying Lord Prysto, he wasn't giving me advice, he was ordering me around." Jaina said, her voice filled with despair, and she burst into tears again.

This time, Arthas didn't stop her. He was completely overwhelmed by these sudden problems and even forgot to comfort his sister. What should he do? Arthas immediately thought of Nathanos, because Uther and Muradin wouldn't give him advice on this, and he always consulted Nathanos whenever he encountered a difficult problem. But that person wasn't with him now.

Grim Batol

Ner'zhul toyed with the Demon Soul, pondering whether it would work. The woman's panting from the prison holding Nathanos continued for several hours before finally ceasing.

Can the Queen of Dragons lay Dragon Egg?

The Warlock was extremely anxious. Although he knew the outcome would take time to prove, what if he failed? Then there would be no more new Red Dragon. Ner'zhul shook his head. He could only wait. This process wouldn't take too long; the Queen of Dragons was different from mortals, giving birth to offspring didn't take months, only a week or two.

"How is that human doing?"

"He's awake," a guard replied.

"Awake? My spell was supposed to keep him asleep all day!" Ner'zhul muttered, the golden disc in front of him reflecting his wrinkled, ugly face.

"Send him some food, don't let him die. Deathwing requires us to keep him alive!" the Warlock ordered.

"Yes, Grot has already gone."...

Inside the prison, Nathanos awoke dressed only in a shirt and shorts, unable to comprehend what had happened while he was unconscious. The feeling upon waking was familiar, exactly the same as when he was with Alleria, but he didn't understand why. Nathanos pondered for a long time, finally concluding that the woman must be the Queen of Dragons. Her aura, her power, and those words, "Save my child."

"Did the Orcs force her to do this?" he murmured. Then Nathanos grew increasingly frightened. Had the Orcs here become so despicable? Did they want to impregnate the Queen of Dragons so they could provide them with weapons of war? How absurd, Nathanos thought. He preferred to believe that the Orcs simply wanted to humiliate the Queen of Dragons, so they randomly found a mortal and forced her to marry him.

"But what if it's true..." Nathanos uttered a word filled with deep worry. He thought of Alleria; there were precedents of Elf and humans living together, proving that offspring could indeed be produced between two races. Could it also be possible between Dragons and mortals...?

"Kill her!" Nathanos said, his eyes wide and fists clenched, just in case. But he immediately found it laughable. How could he possibly kill a Guardian Dragons? Besides, Orcs were keeping a close watch on Alexstrasza, and most importantly, he was a prisoner himself. Nathanos had considered rescuing the Queen of Dragons, but... whether unknowingly or for some other reason, he had indeed defiled her body. Would someone as powerful as her accept this? Would she forgive him once she regained her freedom? Perhaps she would wipe out the Orcs along with Nathanos, burying this fact forever to preserve her honor.

A metallic clanging sound interrupted Nathanos's train of thought.

"Dinner's ready!" The voice was incredibly familiar, and Nathanos looked up.

"It's you!"

Standing before him was Grot Deathstrike, the Dragon Knight he had captured and imprisoned during the war, from whom Nathanos had rescued Christalyssa.

"It's me," Grot replied curtly, then opened the cage and stepped inside. Nathanos noticed he was wearing a chef's hat and looked quite comical.

The Orcs walked up to Nathanos, placed the water pouch and some roasted meat on the ground, and said with a slight smile, "You've had a wonderful night."