A/N: this story takes place some time after the Seige of Orgrimmar but before the opening of alternate Draenor.

I don't own Warcraft, the locations involved or Sylvanas.

"I hope there will be blood."

Fredreich Bunsenburger kept one hand folded behind his back as he shook his wine glass in the other, enjoying the faint sound of the ice cubes dinging against the rim. The quiet of the Brill city watchtower was a safe haven from the bustle of the streets below, like a fortress of solitude in the heavy traffic of central Tirisfal Glades. He could have spent more time jingling those ice cubes, listening and grinning like a child and simply enjoying the fact that his digestive system was one of the few functions he'd retained even in his undeath. Unfortunately, he was hosting the most auspicious of guests that night; a true victory celebration was premature.

"What was that, doctor?"

Watching his own grim smile in the raindrop covered window on the top floor for only a second longer, he turned around slowly, always moderating his movements in the presence of the Dark Lady out of respect. The fact that she hadn't simply invaded his thoughts to learn what he'd said implied a great deal of trust she'd placed in his abilities. It was a trust that was much easier lost than earned, and he took the risk of sipping on his wine to loosen up instead of answering immediately.

"Nothing, Queen Windrunner," he replied as he strode over to her position in the center of the mayor's office. Said office had been vacated save the queen's two skeleton knight bodyguards - provided as a gift by Bunsenburger's own operation - and Bunsenburger's own Orcish assistant. The space added to the informal sense of the setting, and reminded him that the audience he'd been granted was out of the ordinary - he had limited time to make his case.

"I know your time is limited, my liege; I can't express my gratitude for this meeting enough. I promise that once you see the results of our work, you won't be disappointed."

Whether the Dark Lady had been jaded by undeath or was simply weary of the sort of charlatans always ready to befriend world leaders, she didn't seem interested in even the most basic of pleasantries. "You have half an hour to explain, doctor. The grant you were given was a generous one...it's time to see results."

Preparation pays; in front of a leader unlike those known to the living, Bunsenburger should have felt quite nervous. A slight smile in an attempt to appear humble, however, spoke volumes of the man's confidence in his work. "Of course, my liege. Zulgha?" Unused to wearing a suit rather than his lab coat, he tried to stretch his arm out dramatically toward his assistant only to find his movement restricted, and he settled for nodding toward her instead.

Upon his call, the berobed young woman standing behind him - a living orc who'd picked her loyalties long ago - set to work opening a diorama on the mayor's desk. Unlike Bunsenburger, Zulgha's actions were slightly rushed due to nervousness. The curse of youth, the good doctor thought to himself as the Orcish acolyte spread the diorama panes open to give the Dark Lady a full view of the photographs, lab reports and line graphs of results.

No stranger toward the fields which he assigned to her subjects, Sylvanas stepped forward to take a closer look. The armored skeletons which Bunsenburger had helped to raise ironically motioned for him to step aside as they escorted the Banshee Queen even to take a few steps forward. Standing next to his assistant as he waited, Bunsenburger noticed Zulgha nervously tapping her foot in the floor. He raised a hand in a signal for her to stop, knowing that his results would provide all the support they needed in front of the leader of the entire Forsaken.

Sylvanas spent a great deal of time examining the written results, even running her finger beneath a few lines to reread several sections. The queen regent normally known for her alert shrewdness became temporarily engrossed in the material, shifting from only a cursory glance at the bottom line to a thorough read of the details. Bunsenburger allowed a smug grin to creep onto his dead face before sipping more of the wine, all the while steadying his hands; the clinking of ice cubes might break his queen's concentration, and he wanted her to review everything before she began asking questions.

Zulgha nearly jumped in fright when Sylvanas began talking to herself the way Bunsenburger had done.

"The remainder...here...what? That...no...no, how?"

If there's one thing that even her enemies conceded about her, it's that Sylvanas Windrunner was never taken by surprise. She'd lost a tiny handful of battles, she'd been injured previously, she'd discovered plots only after they'd been hatched, but she was not a leader who faced down the unknown at a loss for explanation or even reaction. The fact that she furrowed her long eyebrows in disbelief pleased Bunsenburger to no end; he may very well have been the first person to disprove an expectation of failure from the Dark Lady. Attempting to remember a single time when she'd been wrong in her doubts threatened to inflate his ego a little too much, and he drank down nearly half his glass to relax.

In an almost comical movement, her skeletal bodyguards swiveled on an imaginary pivot as she turned to face Bunsenburger, always rotating such that they were at either side of their charge. "You are not one to fabricate results, doctor," she said, her voice tempered with the caution of a skeptic confused by confirmatory evidence.

"And you are not one to be fooled either way, my queen."

After scrutinizing him with a piercing gaze for a few more seconds, Sylvanas turned her head halfway to her bodyguards. "I want to lean," she stated tersely, politeness never necessary for the hollow undead.

In a flash, both skeletal knights grabbed the mayor's desk and moved it behind her, kicking a few smaller tables and stacks of documents out of the way. Leaning against the rim of the desk comfortably, Sylvanas folded her arms over her cloak, which she'd buttoned up for the sake of privacy; the queen regent of the Forsaken rarely entered the provinces during peacetime, and too much recognition could lead to delays. For a good half a minute, the Banshee a Queen appeared to mull the proposition over on her own, leaving Zulgha to fidget and worry next to Bunsenburger.

For his part, the good doctor only felt an upswell of excitement as he tried to imagine what sort of questions his monarch would ask. The numbers were solid, as was the photographic evidence. As well as...a live demonstration. The sort that he knew she'd appreciate quite a bit, once she saw it with her own eyes.

But...there would be time for that in approximately twenty seven minutes. Until then, he was sure that he'd have plenty to answer for.

Ignoring Zulgha's gasp for air, Sylvanas looked up, her arms still folded like a skeptical defense mechanism. "Start from the beginning. After our first meeting. I need to know the narrative in between the numbers I see...just to confirm if this is what I think it is.

"If you're not misinterpreting the results...then I think you might have provided our deathguards exactly the troop surge we'll need."

Satisfied that the proverbial ball had been tossed to his metaphorical court, Bunsenburger no longer restrained his smile. Letting his ice cubes jungle with flagrant disregard, he basked in the glow of the spotlight he'd been given for just a few deserved seconds before bowing his head deferently.

"It will be my pleasure, Queen Windrunner. Let me tell the tale step by step...so that it may be clearer how the Forsaken can now replicate undead demons."