Seeking the Forbidden

The bartender of the Slaughtered Lamb gave the woman before him a funny look, shaking his head and sighing as he slid the beverage across the bar towards her. Why she had elected to order a hot spiced tea of all things in a place like the Lamb was beyond him; the woman looked like she was lost from another part of town and had no idea where she was.

For her part, Serephel Westdale merely smiled and nodded her thanks, taking up the small cup of tea that the bartender had taken a good ten minutes to scrounge up and turning to walk from the bar towards a distant table. Clad is an extremely fashionable outfit consisting of a short white, navel-exposing shirt with a plunging neckline and more traditional striped skirt, her thick heels made a clunking noise as she navigated between tables. Through the wall of her dirty-blonde, nearly brown hair, she noted a few of the tavern's regular customers giving her equally strange looks and she merely shrugged them off, continuing on her way. Not everyone could look so good after all; the poor dears were likely extremely jealous.

Serephel made her way to the back of the tavern, where a table awaited her with another woman sitting and awkwardly playing with the tablecloth. The woman, like Serephel, was in her mid-twenties and dressed equally well (although not quite as nicely as Serephel if one were to ask her!), and it was clear that she sat alone because she simply did not fit in amongst the other patrons there.

"Ah here we are, Tiffany!" Serephel said happily, setting her teacup down and then taking a seat across from her friend. Tiffany Caldwell had been Serephel's friend for several years now, and the two shared many common interests as well as an unspoken political alliance. She was as close to Serephel as anyone could be, and the noblewoman found herself genuinely glad to see her friend.

For her part, Tiffany nodded and then gestured around the Slaughtered Lamb, "Do we need to meet here of all places? I mean...come on, seriously..."

Serephel waved a well-manicured hand and nodded, "Yes silly! I already told you I've made contact with others here who will be able to aid us in our various experiments. While the decor is not to my liking, it's not terrible and we will simply have to get used to it. It's not like we have to stay here. Can you imagine?"

Tiffany shook her head, studying her friend for a moment, "Well, at least no one will see us here. They wouldn't be caught dead in a dive like this!"

Serephel smiled and nodded, taking a sip of her tea and setting the cup down again. She tilted her head, her face becoming somewhat serious, "I have important news to share with you."

Tiffany perked up at this, staring at her friend, "Ohhhh do tell! Let me guess, the dresses we ordered have arrived? An invitation to another ball? Someone's asked for your hand?"

Serephel rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No, none of that! Do you think I would have waited if those dresses arrived? I'd have been at your estate before the sun rose. No, it is my parents. They are going on their spring trip and likely staying this time until mid-fall at the least."

Tiffany groaned, shaking her head, "That means you'll be away for like ever! How will we get anything accomplished? What about the mid-summer festival? Ugh!"

Serephel smiled and took another sip of her tea, delivering what was earth-shattering news to her friend with a demure smile, "I don't have to go with them this year. In fact, they've already begun to pack."

Tiffany blinked, staring at her friend, "You can't be serious? They're letting you stay by yourself after....you know."

Serephel most certainly did know. Although she was twenty-six, her wealthy parents typically kept a close eye on her after she had been expelled from her studies in Dalaran several years prior. Her expulsion had come under suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of several of her peers, and although Serephel had never been formally charged with a crime, it was a black mark on her record. She'd had to complete her studies in the arcane with a personal tutor purchased at great expense by her parents. Of course, only Serephel knew that she actually had killed those students, or that she'd had very good reason to slaughter the would-be cultists.

Serephel grimaced and waved a dismissive hand, "That was years ago. Apparently they have decided that I am not likely to cause such serious trouble again I suppose. Regardless, I'm being left to my own devices for like, the rest of the year!"

Tiffany grinned, "This is fantastic news! You'll be able to find a date for the upcoming Woodbury Ball I hope?"

Serephel grinned and then shook her head, her voice low and triumphant, "I'm afraid not my friend, for there is a second and even more exciting part of my news!"

Tiffany practically fell out of her chair in suspense, staring hard at her friend, "Oh heavens just tell me already! It is clear you've been waiting for this moment for days!"

Serephel smiled, holding the moment a second longer as she took another sip of tea before setting the cup down, "I have used my monthly stipend from the family treasury to purchase a commission with the Alliance. Well...purchase is a strong word, more like bribe I guess. Whatever! This time next week I shall be on Draenor and will be an 'officer' at one of the Alliance garrisons there!"

Tiffany blinked in shock, clearly not expecting this. She sat back on her chair, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she blurted out, "You what? You're going to Draenor?! Isn't it like ridiculously dangerous there...? I don't understand!"

Serephel nodded and then shrugged, "I guess it is or whatever, but that is beside the point. The point is that there is apparently a Shadow Council on this Draenor. Think about it for a minute. All of our plans, our studies, all of it came from the original Shadow Council in some form or another. Imagine if we can gain bits of the source of this knowledge? Imagine what we could learn? It will change everything!"

Tiffany nodded slowly, beginning to understand her friend's point, "You...will join them then? Or...what?"

Serephel barked out a laugh, shaking her head, "Oh you're so droll. No, my friend, I won't. Why would I do that? If I wanted to be enslaved by such powers I'd have remained at Dalaran all those years past. No, I will steal what I can and bring it back here, and then we will dissect the information and our power will grow. Why, I bet between the two of us and a few of the others we could-"

Serephel's words were cut off as a shadow fell over the table, and the two young noblewomen looked up to see a man looming over them. He was wearing tattered robes, his long black hair and beard disheveled and messy. He placed both hands on their table, palms down as he glared at them, his breath stinking of some alcohol, "You two lasses don't belong in here."

Serephel's nose crinkled up in distaste, her pretty face scrunched in a look of disgust, "Excuse you; we're having a conversation here and I don't think you should just come over here and-"

The man slammed his hands on the table, spilling Serephel's tea and making the table hop. Tiffany sat upright, eyes wide as he glared at each of them in turn, "I said you don't belong here. This place has a certain type of clientele, and prissy noble bitches are not amongst them. Get lost."

Serephel's expression went from distaste to annoyance, all traces of cheerfulness or empathy leaving her eyes as she stared at the man. When she responded, her voice was a dead, flat tone, "We know the purpose of those who go into the crypts. We'll sit where we please. Get away from our table. Now."

The man's eyes widened in anger and he glared at Serephel, leaning close to her face, "You little brat! You think you'll talk to me like that and get away with it?! I'm going to-"

Serephel leaned closer and the man's words faltered as he noticed that her eyes had gone from brown to completely black, all of the white parts obscured by some dark energy. There was a heaviness in the air now, the taint of some otherworldly presence that weighed on the mind and clawed at rational thought. Serephel's head tilted at an almost unnatural angle as she studied him, as if sizing up prey. Her nails pressed into the table top (had they been that long and sharp before..?) and her voice was a hiss now, "You're going to what? You have exactly one more second to remove yourself from my presence before I bathe in your blood."

The man reeled back as if he'd been slapped, his eyes wide. He glanced over at Tiffany only to find her giggling inappropriately, small horns dotting her forehead and the stink of corrupted fel magic filling the air around the two. There was a faint glimmer of green energy coming from various pieces of jewelry the two noblewomen wore, and he realized he had made an extremely grievous error. He took a step back, dipping his head in respect, his voice apologetic, "Forgive me, Ladies. I had mistaken you for...something else. I apologize for interrupting your conversation."

Just like that, Serephel's entire demeanor had changed to normal once more, and she nodded and smiled at the man, "Of course, of course. We all make errors in judgement from time to time. Mistakes are typically not fatal you know? Could you be a dear though and fetch me more tea? It seems you've spilled mine."

The man nodded and scurried off to obtain more tea for the noble, and Serephel returned her attention to Tiffany. She frowned, nodding at her friend and pointing at her head, "Um, Tiff? You uh...yeah."

Tiffany blinked and then giggled again, her eyes closing as she focused. The small horns on her forehead faded away, obscured by some magic that the two powerful warlocks had devised together some time ago, or rather, that Serephel had devised and her friend had followed along with. There was little question as to who was the most powerful, and if Serephel had anything to say about it, her trip to Draenor in the coming weeks would result in her power increasing tenfold. Her coven could have the scraps she chose to leave for them.

Tiffany smiled at her friend and reached up to fix her hair, "Better?"

"Much better," Serephel nodded. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes, so if I'm going on this journey, you know what this means right?"

Tiffany grinned and leaned forward, the two women saying the words together at the same time, "Shopping trip!"

Serephel laughed, nodding as the man returned with her tea. She took a sip and set the cup down with a satisfied sigh. Things were about to change for her, and the events of her past would fall to the wayside when she was able to show just what it was she could do. There would be great power in her future, and if the past came back to conflict with her here and now, well she would deal with that handily.