Sylvanas (World of Warcraft)

Chapter One


Let me see, let me see! Vereesa begged. The balcony walls, white and curving as the throat of a swan, were too tall for her to peer over, and Sylvanas sighed. She cast a final longing look at the crowd milling below, then darted back into their chambers for a stool. As Vereesa happily clambered atop it, Sylvanas returned her attention to the scene.

Their parents did host some gatherings Father said it was prudent to do so from time to time but they were usually small affairs. While Lord Verath Windrunner was one of King Anasterian s most trusted advisers and his wife, Lireesa, was the ranger-general of Silvermoon, lesser nobles like the ostentatious Lord Saltheril threw much more lavish celebrations. But Lireesa had little patience with pretense and politics, and their quietly brilliant father s idea of a fine evening was a glass of wine, a good book, and candles to read by.

But today, everything was different. Some of those gathered at the base of the spire were nobility like the Windrunners. Others would have once been considered commoners, but their athleticism, agility, and almost uncanny skills in marksmanship and tracking had elevated them to another sort of nobility. Certainly Sylvanas and her sisters had been raised with respect for and almost awe of the Far striders, and thus far Sylvanas had seen nothing to disabuse her of the notion that they were worthier of respect than someone who d simply been born with a title.

She had seen many of the Farstriders already for one reason or another, but they had usually come at the ranger-general s request and interacted little with the rest of the family. Sylvanas was most familiar with Lor themar Theron. Perhaps because of his white hair, he was one of the few elves who looked older than they were, and he bore himself with the same quiet, elegant dignity that Sylvanas saw in her father. Another Sylvanas had met was a relative newcomer, Halduron Brightwing. He had a cheerful

Christie Golden is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of fifty-six books and more than a dozen short stories in the fields of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her media tie-in works include her first novel, Vampire of the Mists, which launched TSR’s game line; more than a dozen Star Trek novels; the Fate of the Jedi novels Omen, Allies, and Ascension as well as the standalone novels Dark Disciple and Battlefront II: Inferno Squad. For Blizzard Entertainment, she’s contributed five StarCraft novels, including the Dark Templar trilogy, and the Warcraft/World of Warcraft books Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, War Crimes, Before the Storm, and Exploring Azeroth: Eastern Kingdoms. In 2017, she was awarded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers Faust Award and named a Grandmaster in recognition of thirty years of writing. She currently works full-time for Blizzard Entertainment, where she frequents Azeroth on a regular basis.