World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Page 0,28

At once the kindling in it caught.

“Not necessary, but thank you.”

He laughed at the display. “I forgot. Just the tea, then. Oh, and some bread and honey. And some cheese, Dalaran sharp. And a couple of apples.” Jaina was touched. Anduin had remembered apples and cheese were Jaina’s favorite snack. “Thank you.”

Jaina hid her smile. Definitely a growing boy. Once Wyll had left, Anduin obeyed her earlier request, settling himself comfortably on the bed, regarding her with those bright blue eyes that saw more than adults suspected.

“There, that’s better. I’ve not come to lecture you or to apologize for your father,” Jaina continued. “I’ve come to give you an opportunity for a little fun, if you like.”

He raised a golden eyebrow at that. “Oh? Fun?” He pronounced the word with exaggerated awkwardness. “What, pray tell, is that?”

“Something you need more of. Your father is upset that you had to see that. He and I talked for a bit, and we both decided that you might like to have the chance to get away from things from time to time.”

He eyed her curiously. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

“How would you like to come visit me at Theramore?” Anduin had been to Theramore once, during a terrible storm, to attend peace talks that had been violently disrupted. She hoped to change his association of the place to a more positive one.

But Anduin apparently had the resiliency of youth, for instead of looking unhappy, he brightened. “Visit the frontier again? I’d like that very much! I didn’t get to see very much of it at all. Is there any dragon fighting going on?”

“Hardly any at all,” Jaina said with a mock sigh. “But I’m sure there is some trouble a thirteen-year-old boy can get into.”

“Thirteen and a half, almost” Anduin admonished her in all seriousness.

“I stand corrected.”

“But … it’s a very long journey.”

“Not for magi.”

“Well, no, of course not, I didn’t mean for you, Aunt Jaina, I meant for me.”

She smiled at him. “I’ve got a little something that might make traveling a bit easier.” She fished in the pouch clipped to her belt and came out with a small oval crystal covered with soft blue runes. “Here. Catch!”

Jaina tossed it to Anduin, who caught it easily. “It’s pretty,” he said, examining it and tracing the runes with his fingers.

“Pretty, and rather rare. Hold it lightly for now. Don’t close your fingers over it. Recognize the runes?”

He peered at it. “It has your name and the word … ‘Home,’” he said.

“That’s right. I see you’ve been keeping up with your studies. I had this created just for you. Even before … today … I had thought that you might enjoy coming to visit your old Auntie Jaina.”

He scowled at her, brushing a lock of blond hair off his face. “You’re not old,” he said.

“And you’ve been keeping up with your diplomacy, too,” she said, grinning. “But yes. It’s called a hearthstone.”

“But the rune means ‘home.’”

“Yes, it does, but ‘homestone’ sounds so ugly. ‘Hearthstone’ is more musical.”

He chuckled, turning the hearthstone over in his hand, and said in a slightly supercilious tone, “Trust a girl to worry about such things.”

“Kingdoms have risen and fallen over less,” Jaina said.

“True enough,” he allowed. “So, how does this hearthstone work?”

“Close your hand tightly over it, and concentrate.”

Anduin obeyed. Jaina rose and went to him, placing her hand over his. A faint blue light limned her hand, then his.

“This will bind the stone to you,” Jaina said quietly. He nodded his understanding. “Focus. Take the stone into yourself. Make it yours.”

She felt the shift, from her to him, and smiled softly to herself as she let go. “There. It’s yours now.”

Anduin looked at it again, grinning. He was clearly fascinated. “It’s purely magical, right? It’s not a gnomish construct?”

Jaina nodded. “And I’m afraid it will only take you to Theramore. From there, we can port you back home.”

“Wouldn’t want to put the dwarves and their gryphons out of business I suppose,” Anduin said with that odd streak of pragmatism that surfaced now and then.

“Be mindful of when you use it,” she said, rising. “It will literally take you right to my hearth. Midafternoon is a very good time.”

He continued to regard the stone, smiling, and Jaina’s heart lifted. This was definitely the right thing to do. She held out her arms to him. Anduin slipped off the bed and hugged her. He was growing up, she thought to herself, her arms around shoulders that were broader