Old Memories Die Hard
February 7, Year 34
I went to this ball the other evening, the Hope Ball. It was being held in the Purple Parlor above Dalaran, by a woman from The Refuge. I came upon an invitation by chance, seeing an advertisement in a magazine. I was struck by the name... "Hope Ball." Hope is something I've long kept kindled in my heart, despite everything that's going on in this world, and a Ball in honor of those lost in war seemed a fitting place for me to be. Thus, I donned my black dress and made my way there.
When I entered the parlor, my heart immediately stopped and leapt into my throat. A white-haired Death Knight was standing by the portal, facing away from me. I thought, if only for a second, that it was Aremar. But the Knight turned around and I noticed that he was much tanner than Ar had been, and had a more angular, "manly" (though equally attractive) face. But that hair... it was the same length and color...
I met Aremar Highwing when I was still living at the orphanage. He purchased some cloth I was working on at the tailor's booth in the Bazaar and asked me for the "pleasure of my company" for dinner that evening. He was a paladin of noble heritage, I always thought I was too plain and poor for him, and his sister, Minnaloushe, especially liked to remind me of that. (She didn't approve.) But, despite the unkindess of his family, we fell in love.
Less than a year after I became of-age and left the orphanage to live on my own, the Third War broke out. Aremar and his sister, also a paladin, went out to fight. I stayed behind in Silvermoon to care for the wounded.
The scourge wasted no time making their way to Quel'Thalas. I remember the day they broke through the walls like it was a nightmare I just woke up from. I went with some other Priestesses of the Light into hiding while everything I knew and loved was laid to ruin. Aremar was slain along with his sister and their fellow knights at the gates. So many were lost that day, it makes me sick just thinking about it. And any who survived the attack were severely weakened by the corruption of the Sunwell. It took everything I had in me to assist the other priestesses, but we were all experiencing magical withdrawal. That feeling still lingers within me, that empty feeling that everything bright inside me had been sucked out.
((There's a couple lines skipped here, and a noticeable change in pen ink.))
I found out not too long ago that Aremar is a Death Knight now, still under the control of the Lich King. Minnaloushe, however, broke free. She sought me out... It was strange, seeing her again. Her skin had blackened with undeath but her hair, not unlike Aremar's, was unmistakable. She actually apologized to me for all the hostility she had towards me in the past and praised my strength and courage. She also informed me that Aremar had no desire to break free, that he's too consumed in the power the Lich promises him. It wasn't surprising for me to hear, Aremar had always been heady and ambitious for power, but knowing he's out there now and what he's become has made fresh wounds on my heart. Minna, in having no place left to go, asked me for sanctuary and for work. For now I've sent her to Outland to see over things I left untied there when I left for Northrend.
As for hope... I think I have too much of it. I keep hoping I'll see his face, that he'll change his mind and follow his sister's example. Or, I keep hoping I'll find someone else to take a significant place in my heart and life so I won't have to think about Aremar anymore. But, I'm also afraid. Afraid that if I do find someone and fall in love again they, too, will be wrenched from my life by the clutches of the scourge. I hope, praise the Light, that that would not be the case, but it still makes me nervous. (I have a track record, you see.)
In any case, that Death Knight I saw at the party's name is Andalar. I asked. He left the party early, so I didn't have much of a chance to talk to him.
I went to this ball the other evening, the Hope Ball. It was being held in the Purple Parlor above Dalaran, by a woman from The Refuge. I came upon an invitation by chance, seeing an advertisement in a magazine. I was struck by the name... "Hope Ball." Hope is something I've long kept kindled in my heart, despite everything that's going on in this world, and a Ball in honor of those lost in war seemed a fitting place for me to be. Thus, I donned my black dress and made my way there.
When I entered the parlor, my heart immediately stopped and leapt into my throat. A white-haired Death Knight was standing by the portal, facing away from me. I thought, if only for a second, that it was Aremar. But the Knight turned around and I noticed that he was much tanner than Ar had been, and had a more angular, "manly" (though equally attractive) face. But that hair... it was the same length and color...
I met Aremar Highwing when I was still living at the orphanage. He purchased some cloth I was working on at the tailor's booth in the Bazaar and asked me for the "pleasure of my company" for dinner that evening. He was a paladin of noble heritage, I always thought I was too plain and poor for him, and his sister, Minnaloushe, especially liked to remind me of that. (She didn't approve.) But, despite the unkindess of his family, we fell in love.
Less than a year after I became of-age and left the orphanage to live on my own, the Third War broke out. Aremar and his sister, also a paladin, went out to fight. I stayed behind in Silvermoon to care for the wounded.
The scourge wasted no time making their way to Quel'Thalas. I remember the day they broke through the walls like it was a nightmare I just woke up from. I went with some other Priestesses of the Light into hiding while everything I knew and loved was laid to ruin. Aremar was slain along with his sister and their fellow knights at the gates. So many were lost that day, it makes me sick just thinking about it. And any who survived the attack were severely weakened by the corruption of the Sunwell. It took everything I had in me to assist the other priestesses, but we were all experiencing magical withdrawal. That feeling still lingers within me, that empty feeling that everything bright inside me had been sucked out.
((There's a couple lines skipped here, and a noticeable change in pen ink.))
I found out not too long ago that Aremar is a Death Knight now, still under the control of the Lich King. Minnaloushe, however, broke free. She sought me out... It was strange, seeing her again. Her skin had blackened with undeath but her hair, not unlike Aremar's, was unmistakable. She actually apologized to me for all the hostility she had towards me in the past and praised my strength and courage. She also informed me that Aremar had no desire to break free, that he's too consumed in the power the Lich promises him. It wasn't surprising for me to hear, Aremar had always been heady and ambitious for power, but knowing he's out there now and what he's become has made fresh wounds on my heart. Minna, in having no place left to go, asked me for sanctuary and for work. For now I've sent her to Outland to see over things I left untied there when I left for Northrend.
As for hope... I think I have too much of it. I keep hoping I'll see his face, that he'll change his mind and follow his sister's example. Or, I keep hoping I'll find someone else to take a significant place in my heart and life so I won't have to think about Aremar anymore. But, I'm also afraid. Afraid that if I do find someone and fall in love again they, too, will be wrenched from my life by the clutches of the scourge. I hope, praise the Light, that that would not be the case, but it still makes me nervous. (I have a track record, you see.)
In any case, that Death Knight I saw at the party's name is Andalar. I asked. He left the party early, so I didn't have much of a chance to talk to him.