Chapter 41: Entourage from Silvermoon

Lireesa and Sylvanas left the room and entered the dining hall. Sylvanas sat on the left of the main seat and waited for others. Soon, Alleria, Verisa and Lina hopped on the chairs. Because Lina still couldn't pick the dish herself at her age, Lireesa placed her between her and Sylvanas. Her second daughter didn't mind such approach because Lina was actually the most favored in the Windrunner house. Lina didn't need Lireesa to feed her and she presumed herself to be an adult. Lireesa only picked up her favorites and put it on her plate.

Alleria was on her right and her face shone happiness, watching her family members dining together. In the past, she never had such feeling wanting this precious time to continue forever. Only now when she must leave them, she cherished such opportunity. She sensed a weight on her lap and noticed it was Lireesa's. Puzzled, she looked into her mother's eyes. Lireesa consoled her eldest daughter, sharing her experiences and her difficulties when she also had her first expedition. Alleria relaxed listening to her mother's deed and sometimes sniffled in joy. Sometimes, her expression was full of disbelief.

Lireesa never intended to hide her embarrassments over the past millennium. She saw the effects by the looks from her daughters, they finally stopped idolizing her. They now convinced themselves, they could reach her height one day. That was the most fruitful for Lireesa. They walked around the whole house, reminiscing past memories and chatting nonstop. Finally, the time to sleep had arrived. Sylvanas and Vereesa knowing Alleria would leave tomorrow, decided to sleep in her eldest sister's room. When Lireesa closed the door, she still heard their muffled chatters. Lina was no where to be found, because as the youngest she must slumber early.

Lireesa believed her little padded cotton had already entered her own private room with the help of maids. She opened the door and chuckled after seeing the sight on her bed. No surprise, her daughter was lying there spread out in a cute manner. She laid down beside her hugging her in the arms, hearing her adorable mumblings and dozed into her own dreamworld.

The next day, everyone woke up to see Alleria off her journey. Lireesa looked at Sena and their glances had already said everything needed to be said. Sena smiled and waved her hands, taking Alleria alongside. The whole 1500 women would leave today to fight the trolls. Lireesa went up to her balcony and never left her sight on the group. Shadows were still seen and tiny figures got smaller even with her eagle-like eyes. Until they were out of her visions, she signed reluctantly and said, "Stay safe. Remember to come back all in one piece. Sena, my daughter is in your hands. Take good care of her."

Sena far away in the distance halted and turned back as if she sensed something reluctant. Alleria beside her asked, "Captain Aunt, what's the matter?"

Sena's corner of the mouth twitched from the way Alleria addressed her. Captain is captain. Aunt is aunt. What is Captain Aunt. This must be pure revenge for taking away her mother. Sena had only one thought: to immediately kick this girl's ass back to the manor. "Nothing, move on. Call me captain during wartime, you can call me aunt when it is free."

Alleria smiled as reply and nodded. Sena was unsure whether she really listened to her words. Lest she called the same way during battle, and her arrow missed. She still distrusted Alleria's obedience and regretted her indecisiveness. She should have disagreed Lireesa's plead back then. This girl might really make her age grew. She wondered after this war, whether her hair would turn white.

Lireesa, not aware her daughter was annoying Sena, felt empty in her heart, especially when no one was around. Even Lina was playing with her butterflies in the garden. Sylvanas wasn't near her. After having yesterday conversation with Lireesa, she took Vereesa who showed reluctance to ranger training, yanking her out of the bed and smacked her buttocks until Vereesa relented. Sylvanas, unawared Vereesa was cursing inwardly for her sister's brutality and forceful action, was highly motivated to strengthen herself and her sisters. If not, Lina was very young, she would surely suffer the same treatment.

She remembered another method to increase the combat effectiveness beside special force doctrine. In the game she played, there was one famous class, many players looked up to and suited for the elven rangers. The hunter profession where players fought alongside with their battle pets was the closest and most suitable currently. In addition, the hunter profession had spells that Lireesa loved, which was to use the eye of the pets to scout the area, sharing their senses and thoughts, while the hunter was able to control them anytime.

One hunter could even possess more than one if their soul was capable enough to suppress and share their pets. If she were to introduce hunter profession, she had nowhere else to refer to except the distant Kalimdor in the west. Their secrets were still held in the hands of night elves, who used their battle pets also as mounts. The high elves previously possessed this knowledge but lost them during the great migration. She instantly remembered a thousand years ago; she met the old goblin who gave her a token. She believed the goblin might have the scriptures related to hunter class and this token should be her aid at the moment.

Besides becoming a hunter meant they needed battle pets and breeding ground for them, so that even if they died her soldiers could replace them quickly and participated in the battle. Lireesa was perfectionist and somewhat had a slight obsessive disorder. She hated her rangers having miscellaneous pets. There must only be one kind and she preferred the mounts. As someone affected by war history in previous life, her firm impression was that cavalries were the king of battles. Naturally mounts such as war horses were rare in Quel'Thalas especially these animals were monopolized by humans. She figured mounts like Frostwolves or sabers served the purpose and elves would like them too because these animals had a sense of beauty and fit the elven aesthetics.

While her thoughts wandered around, she heard her maid reported and didn't understand. She asked her to repeat her sentence. It appeared the entourage of the royal family from the Silvermoon had arrived outside their huge manor and awaited Lireesa's permission. Lireesa was amazed they came fast and asked why. Her maid conveyed a strange look and reminded the common sense in Quel'Thalas. In the kingdom where arcane magic was popular, nobles used magic to deliver letters rapidly or communicate virtually with one another. However, the latter was difficult and very costly, rarely utilized except on the important events. Only on occasion where nobles created solemn atmosphere, they sent their entourage to personally relay their message. The maid's reminder actually threw Lireesa into a daze. Lireesa underestimated Quel'Thalas information power. This was actually like zoom or email form of Azeroth. Of course, Lireesa cognized this communication methods only served the nobles who could support arcane mages.

After reading numerous fantasy books and even transmigrated to Azeroth, she still couldn't distinguish the disparities between archmage, magister and sorcerer. To Lireesa, all these terms seemed like a title to announce their superior presence over others. Retaining her thoughts, she believed based on this fast-paced information technology in Quel'Thalas, royal family showed of condolence should have been earlier if they already perceived Lireesa had woken up from coma. Or they did, Ella spoke to her about them, but returned after Lireesa never woke up during their presence. Lireesa smiled at her conjecture and her trust in her own Windrunner family increased. It presented the fact, there weren't any moles or spies from other families among her followers and servants. Their backgrounds actually no longer required a test. It took so long for the royal families and other nobles to react. Lireesa deemed her mobilization and Sena's expedition force alerted the others. This could only be the reason for their knowledge.

But the entourage should take much more time, right? It shouldn't appear just a few hours after Sena's group departed. She asked her maid again and received her incredulous expression. When she realized the answer, she slapped her forehead hard, stroking her hairs in the process. She hoped her stupid stain never spread to others. She didn't hold on to this hope. A few days afterward, she swore everyone was well aware of her indignity. Royal family obviously had many flying mounts and using one for entourage wasn't surprising. Ignoring her maid's eyes rolling around, Lireesa solicited her to guide the visitor to the living room in her mansion and proceeded by herself after watching her leave.

Arriving at her own living room, Lireesa found herself the main seat and disheveled her hair completely different from her tidy appearance, exuding a depressing aura around her. Her actions stunned the maids and guards nearby. Recent previous outlook was immediately unrecognizable from Lireesa at the moment. They glanced at each other, raising their chin lightly, asking what's going on behind the scenes. The intelligent one nodded her head toward the door, saying silently it was for the visitor to see. Everyone returned to their posture and released menacing momentum to dissuade the outsider from saddening their lord, even if they discerned the realities of Lireesa. Meanwhile, they smacked their lips quietly and 'cursed' Lireesa as the manifestation of the old fox—the great pretender.

Lireesa wouldn't have done this if the king personally visited, because this gave others the reason to bring down Windrunner's reputation. Not mentioning, the king as old and experienced her could likely spot out her pretense and the whole situation became awkward. The relationship between monarch and the minister might plummet. Nevertheless, Lireesa staged a drama for the entourage to report back to the king. Seeing is believing. The king wasn't here, and his entourage would narrate the entire Lireesa's situation back, hauling the seriousness to another level. Now all Lireesa had to perform was waiting for the drama to sail.

As soon as the entourage arrived at the scene, the whole Lireesa's outlook dumbfounded him to the point where he couldn't start what he desired to do at the beginning. As he glimpsed the surrounding servants, he suspected he was now under trial—one single misstep would ruin his life right here. Even if his confidence came from the royal family, his heart now swayed and his fear of Lireesa heightened. The disheartened Lireesa frightened him even more. Who knows what this widow will do when he delivered the king's message. He breathed in deeply while considering each wording he brought to the utmost importance. This was exactly what Lireesa had in mind, to disrupt the rhythm of the opponents and take the initiative on one's own term. Diplomacy between nobles and monarchs was also the hidden battlefield without swords or bloodshed, yet one slight mistake could lead the entire family into purgatory. The expression of the king's messenger caused the whole acting troupe to laugh inside.