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| Details |
| Author: | Disknight |
| Summary: | Taeavon finally visits home after coming back from his rogue mission with Velrin. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Taeavon took a deep breath and raised his hand to the door of his house. He held it there for a moment then brought it back down and exhaled. His stomach felt like it was sinking deeper and deeper into his gut. He really wasn’t looking forward to this…
He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since he got back from his little escapade with Captain Silverbloom. Captain Morrowsong was furious when he came to make his report, but his explanation saying that it would have reflected poorly on all of them if something became of their commanding officer pacified him for the most part. Darinir was still upset, to be sure, but he couldn’t argue with Tae’s thinking. He even looked a little guilty for having not thought about it himself. It really was a perfectly legitimate excuse, so why did Taeavon feel like he was lying when he said it?
Taeavon brought his hand back up to the door. He joked with Captain Silverbloom about the lecture he was going to get when he next saw his mother, but those jokes were more serious than she probably realized. He clenched his jaw and struck the knocker on the door three times. That was it. He did it. His heart was racing. Now it was only a matter of time. Taeavon wished he had taken the Captain’s offer to protect him from his mother. He once spent an evening after school having a picnic with Lyn without telling his parents and Thuraniel proceeded to spend the rest of the night after he got home interrogating him on what exactly he had been up to all day.
After exactly fifteen seconds the door opened, revealing Thuraniel. She was dressed in her usual home attire, which wasn’t really all that much more casual than what she wore at the Citadel, “Hello, Taeavon.” She said evenly. Her cold eyes pierced through him.
“I’m home, Mother.” Taeavon said sheepishly. He almost started to wring his hands, but caught himself. Did he catch himself in time, or did she-
“Straighten yourself out, please. That’s no way to greet someone.” She took a small step back and to the side, “I don’t care how tired you are from the fighting.”
“Sorry…” Taeavon lowered his head. Then he caught himself again, “Sorry Mother- err m’am…”
Thuraniel raised an eyebrow, “I certainly hope you remain more composed than this on the battlefield, or I shall have to speak with Captain Morrowsong on the matter.” She gestured inside, “Come. Dinner will be ready shortly.”
“Thank you, Mother.” He wiped his feet on the doormat and stepped inside. Thuraniel made her way back to the kitchen while Taeavon hung up his cloak in the foyer, “What’s for dinner?” He asked.
“Come to the kitchen and ask me there. I will suffer no yelling from room to room in this house.” She called back.
Taeavon winced and began to walk calmly into the kitchen. He had really been away too often and too long since the Third War. He kept slipping up with his manners. He hoped that Velrin didn’t notice. Wait what? She had only recently gotten to know him, how would she be able to tell how he’d changed? Actually no, why did she even come to mind just then? Shouldn’t Darnir’s impression of him be more impor-
“Well are you going to just stand there? You said you had a question.” Thuraniel’s arms were crossed and she tapped a finger impatiently.
Taeavon snapped out of his thoughts and back to attention, “Right. Sorry Mother- m-m’am…” He corrected himself again.
Thuraniel relented for now and simply gave him a dry look while she waited.
“What are we having for dinner?” Taeavon asked.
“Roasted duck.” She turned and went to the oven to check on it, “From that old butcher your father used to rave about. It seems he’s reopened in Hillsbrad. I had a bird teleported here fresh this afternoon.”
Taeavon flashed a rueful smile. His dad really did know all the best spots. Deep down he supposed it sort of came with the job after wandering across the Eastern Kingdoms for as long as he did, but there was such a charm to knowing all those sorts of little details about other places.
“Wow. That’s quite the meal. Is Professor Whitevale coming over?” He asked.
Thuraniel set the dish with the duck out to cool and replaced her oven mitts, “No. It will just be us for tonight.” She turned back to Tae, her face was neutral as ever but her eyes brightened. It was a genuine Thuraniel smile, “It’s been some time since I have been able to catch up with my son, so I intend to do just that.”
Taeavon blinked. She was in too good of a mood right now. And the Whitevales weren’t coming over either… Was this some sort of trick? “Oh… Ok.”
“Taeavon, you could at least try to sound a little more enthused.” Thuraniel remarked, “Now help me set the table.”
“Yes, m’am.”
Taeavon cuts off another tiny piece from his helping of duck. He lifts the fork up and puts it in his mouth. There’s still a lot left to go. He looks over to Thuraniel’s plate, and she’s almost done, as steadily paced as ever. He finishes chewing and swallows.
“But that’s enough about how my work has been progressing since the city moved.” Thuraniel set down her fork and knife and folded her hands in front of her, “I spoke with Captain Morrowsong the other day and he said that you were away for some time on a special assignment to guard that Kaldorei captain of yours while she was off on some reconnaissance mission after the Wrathgate incident.”
There it was. There was no way she bought that half baked explanation and she certainly wasn’t going to let it slide. How was he gonna play this?
“That’s right.” Taeavon said with practiced calmness.
Thuraniel nodded unassumingly, “My my. That must have been quite the honor, being given such an important task.”
She was playing along with him for now, sitting and waiting for him to slip up himself. Taeavon bit his tongue. Thuraniel knew he couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. Why waste the effort on prying it out of him?
“Yeah, it really was. Out there keeping watch just the two of us.” Taeavon took a sip of tea. He’d let her lead the conversation for now. The more of the talking she did, the fewer chances Thuraniel would have for him to slip up.
Thuraniel raised an eyebrow, “Just the two of you?”
Taeavon’s heart pounded. That was really all she was giving him, “Well I mean Thoridas was with us too of course.”
“Of course.” Thuraniel picked up her utensils again, but kept her gaze fixed squarely on her son while she cut another piece of duck. She was eating and it was Tae’s story to tell. He was the one who had to tell it.
Taeavon coughed, fortunately remembering to do it into a napkin, and continued, “It was a little nerve wracking, though. It’s a lot of pressure being responsible for other people like this. Being with a real military is really different from what I’m used to.”
“Different, yes, but you must be taking to it well to be given that assignment.” Thuraniel continues to eat.
Meanwhile Taeavon toyed with his food, his appetite still absent and not looking to come back anytime soon, “It was an honor, yes.” Taeavon was careful to not add any more new information that she might use to try and squeeze more out of him, “I’m glad that it went over so well.”
Thuraniel swallowed and nodded, “As am I. It sounds like you have truly been proving yourself in the Silver Covenant.” She speaks with maternal pride, but Tae sensed something underneath it… “I shall have to thank Mr. Morrowsong for placing his faith in you.” Thuraniel pierced Taeavon through with a knowing stare.
Taeavon winced. His mother had him again. Nothing about that plan was Darinir’s idea, and Tae doubted he’d be pleased to hear that Thuraniel was under the impression that it was. Taeavon clenched his jaw. She’d been baiting him this whole time. She knew that Captain Silverbloom going missing was suspicious. She was just pretending to assume Darinir was in on it for the start so that Tae had no choice but to tell her the truth. And all without having to ask a single question about it herself.
“Oh, actually, um…” Taeavon itches his hand, “I requested the assignment…”
Thuraniel’s eyes widened, “My my. Aren’t you eager to prove yourself?”
“I just wanted to be helpful. That’s what father always taught me to do.” Taeavon muttered and looked back down at his tea.
Thuraniel picked up her own cup of tea and kept her gaze, steady and inexorable as ever, fixed on Tae, “But to be taken over another Sentinel.” Thuraniel clicks her tongue, “You must be quite the confidant of hers, this Captain Velrin Silverbloom.”
“What? She’s really strong and brave.” Taeavon defends himself, “She’s a ruthless commander. She’s hard on you, but she makes you want to keep up.”
Thuraniel narrows her eyes imperceptibly and lets the silence hang for a whole agonizing minute. Taeavon swallows and does his best not to blink.
“Well I’m glad to hear that you’ve taken to this joint operation so well.” Thuraniel finally relents, “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard that some of the Silver Covenant units would be paired off with those from the other kingdoms.”
Taeavon manages to mask his sigh well enough that his mother doesn’t notice, “Me too. I was pretty nervous at first.”
“I know, son. Now please finish your dinner. You’ve been toying with it all evening.” Thuraniel remarked.
Taeavon flinched in his seat. He wasn’t getting off that easy tonight, “Yes, m’am.”
Taeavon flopped into his bed, exhausted. He’d take a dozen battles with the Scourge over getting interrogated by his mother. It’s what kept him from going to visit for so long after his and Velrin’s little incident.
He rolled over to face his bookshelf on the other side of the room. He thought that maybe he should read to try and take his mind off of it, but what should he read? His eyes immediately drifted to all his favorite novels and plays. He groaned and rolled back over onto his back. That wouldn’t be relaxing, he thought. He’d get all invested, and that would make him even more tired than he already was.
Taeavon wanted to feel relieved that Thuraniel didn’t press him on what he had really been up to while he and Velrin had been missing, but he couldn’t. His mother was too smart not to know a cover up story when she saw one, and the suspense was killing him. Why didn’t she just get whatever she wanted to know out of him? She was more than capable of doing it. She had a century and a half of practice learning how to press his buttons, and he wasn’t exactly the hardest game to play.
He shot up in bed. Then that meant that she was after something else, Taeavon finally pieced together. His heart started pounding. She had kept asking him about Captain Silverbloom. What did she think was going on between them? She was his commanding officer, what else was there to say? Sure they got along well, but so what? Was that so strange? Taeavon’s thoughts kept racing. Why was he so nervous anyway? If there was nothing to tell, then why couldn’t he just go out and say it? Why did he feel like he was lying about something? Was he lying about something? But to who? His mother? Captain Silverbloom? Himself?
“Grrrah…” Tae groaned and threw himself down onto his pillow. He pulled the covers over himself and shut his eyes tight. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from darting all over the place, but he could at least try to get some rest.
It was ironic. He was sleeping in the most comfortable bed he’d slept in in months, yet this was the most uncomfortable he’d felt at night that he could remember. He found himself wishing he could go back to camping out with Captain Silverbloom again. Ha, in Dragonblight of all places.
…
Of course that was the first place his mind had to go to, Tae thought. He wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight, was he…