The two sat in silence at the small outdoor cafe. Around them, the life of Boralus swirled about. They had come here after attending the Kal’dorei Great House Council in Stormwind. The Kal’dorei woman with the blue hair fidgeted, barely touching her food. Her adoptive father, her An’da, her Papa, was silent; lost in thought. She tried to stay quiet for his sake, but silence was not an easy thing for Lilybeth. With a blatantly false casual air, she squeaked, “Did I do ok?”
He glanced at her, his face set in a hard line, but he didn’t seem angry. He answered, in a strangely choked voice, “You were fine.”
With a sudden insight, she realized he was holding back laughter. “Papa!” She scolded.
Letting go, Forosuul Silverthorn laughed aloud. It had a deep raspy quality that would be frightening to anyone who didn’t know him. Grinning from ear to long ear, he said, “Did you see her face?”
Confused, Lilybeth asked, “Who?”
“Selanii! The Longleaf Matriarch.”
“Oh. No,” Lilybeth replied hesitantly.
“She was absolutely livid,” he said gleefully, then added, “Her and Tyrande both.”
“And…that’s good?”
“Yes!” he cried, laughing some more.
“I guess I don’t understand politics,” Lilybeth declared, looking unhappy.
Grinning at her, he said, “That’s ok, that’s not your role. I didn’t really do this to piss them off.” Then he grinned even wider and added, “But it’s a nice bonus.” He laughed and laughed.
His mirth was infectious, she smiled at him and asked, “Ok, tell me why, explain it to me.”
“All right. You know that Tyrande is not exactly our closest ally, right?”
“That is an understatement.”
“Right, she is savvy though, and knows she is better off if I don’t actively speak against her, because our family has some old-time cachet.”
Smiling at him slyly, she said, “It’s more than that, Papa.”
He shrugged and went on, “Well, Selanii absolutely hates Tyrande, been trying to get her chair for thousands of years. She is angry with me because I am supporting Tyrande right now. She thought she was close to getting Tyrande out of her way, and I spoiled it.”
Screwing up her face, Lilybeth said, “So we don’t like Tyrande, but we are helping her anyway, and Selanii hates Tyrande, and doesn’t like us because we helped her?”
“Pretty much.”
Lilybeth’s forehead furrowed as she asked, “But…if Selanii hates Tyrande, and we don’t like Tyrande either, then…why do we have problem with Selanii?”
Chuckling, Forosuul said, “I wouldn’t, except she has a problem with me.”
“Why?”
“I’m male.”
“Oh. Oh! You are a male running a Great House!”
“Exactly, it offends her traditional sensibilities.”
“So,” Lilybeth said brightly, “Your announcement today made them both angry, because it strengthens your position?”
“The House’s position, yes. It makes the House of Silverthorn more popular, harder to strike at.”
Suddenly thoughtful, Lilybeth spoke quietly, “By giving the Treasury to the Kal’dorei people, you secured the future of the House and helped our people.”
Forosuul just gazed at her and nodded slowly.
Very softly, Lilybeth said, “Papa, I am sorry.”
Looking confused, he asked her, “Sorry for what, Lily?”
Turning away from him, she said, “When Kal told me about this. I…I was very angry.”
Gently, he answered, “I thought you might feel hurt by it. I hoped not, but I thought you might.”
“You were doing the right thing. I was just being selfish.”
Smiling warmly at her, he said, “Lily, you were protecting something you had put a lot of work into, and you were protecting the House. That is not selfish.”
“That’s not why I was angry,” she replied, shame-faced, “I was just being a brat, I didn’t want it taken from me.”
With a little half-smile, Forosuul set his scaly hand on her arm and said simply, “You are forgiven, Sel’de.”
She smiled at him, her eyes shining. After a moment she looked thoughtful and said, “You know, I did look at Tyrande when you were telling the Council what the Treasury contained.”
“Yeah?”
Nodding, she went on, “She looked like she’d swallowed sabre poop.”
Both of them started to giggle out loud at that, garnering strange looks from passers by.