A Decade Hence

In the twin handfuls of years since Kerendra and Brialla’s first trysts, there had been many intense, joyful moments. There had been moments of conflict, often prompted by the pressures of child-rearing, which they had nevertheless weathered. Not because, Brialla had decided upon reflection, they were the perfect couple, nor perfect parents, but because the kaldorei way of raising children gave them time to reaffirm their bond – in the predictable ways. So it was these next four days, Elennia seen off with the communal child-rearing group to go into the forest and try to bond with a group of sabers and their cubs.

That left Brialla behind, managing affairs in the warehouse granted her by the priestess, which she oversaw on behalf of her family’s merchant house. So, though she appeared on the surface to have come far, having grown roots into the local community, she still had responsibilities to those back in Quel’thalas. And, as a consequence of the odd, theocratic meritocracy in which the kaldorei lived, she never stopped having to prove her fitness in various small ways. In Silvermoon, if she had bought and paid for a warehouse, offices, they were hers until she sold them again. Here, though the kaldorei obviously understood currency, it did not rule in the same way. One also traded in, earned, spent the currency of opinion, of devotion, of the approval or lack of it from the Sisterhood of Elune.

So, in truth, there were always several people nipping at her heels. One could never become truly settled, truly comfortable, and, upon long reflection, Brialla found that though she could rarely fully relax, she also would not have pushed herself quite as far without that fire always burning. More so, of course, with Elennia to care for. Kerendra would be fine, whether they controlled the warehouse and its offices or not. Kaldorei, a sentinel even if not a guardian of the priestess at present, she earned her place every day. As an outsider, even with a child who seemed to have taken entirely after her kaldorei sire, Brialla was put under more scrutiny.

At first, and for a long time, she had worried that she would never be at home on kalimdor, that the kaldorei would never accept her as one of their own. Gradually, then, she came to realize that their expectations of her were, in fact, a product of their acceptance. Or, to some extent, a result of their focus on the abilities of the individual – they expected her to live in, to benefit the settlement. If she suffered anything as a result of being sin’dorei, not of local stock, it was hungry looks from those who wished they had matched with her, instead of Kerendra. Several had openly propositioned her, and still did, there apparently not being as much stigma with regards to multiple partners in kaldorei society as there might have been back home. It seemed, even, that Kerendra was open to the prospect, at times, when Brialla had brought it up to her. Brought up the advances. Brialla, however, found herself too traditional to want anything or anyone but Kerendra. An odd realization, given that she had been adventurous enough to cross the seas, latch on like a lamprey around Kerendra’s pride, and from that extract a mate. Grow roots.