#regentlord

[dustofuniverse]

Run Theron Run

[sunreaved]

“ people are scared. they need a leader. and right now, like it or not, they’re looking to you. so go on. lead us. ” from lor

;𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 — @regentlord

Leadership was not a foreign concept to Aethas — though he supposed it hadn't been to Lor'themar either. But leading a faction and leading a nation were not the same beast. Aethas had hoped (at best) Lor'themar would empathize with having a title you didn't want thrust upon you, but there was little in their history of exchanges that would suggest that sentiment would bloom to fruition.

❝ The legacy is stained. Kael'thas wanted the crown buried with him. ❞ Had they even given him a burial? Had they been able to look past what he had become to honor who he had been? Aethas realized then, he had never asked. There was a distinct separation between Kael'thas as his father, and Kael'thas as the crown prince. Then of course, whatever had been left of him that had been put down like a rabid dog. Aethas had not been a blissfully ignorant child through all that transpired. He had fully understood the happenings, and watched from afar as his father descended into madness.

This was not supposed to be an option. Neither of his parents had wanted it for him and thus never prepared him for even the possibility. Aethas had not expected the word of his heritage to spread as quickly as it did and leave their kingdom in uncertainty, yet again, of their future leadership. Despite the mar that Kael'thas had left on the Sunstrider name, many had come out in favor of continuing the monarchy — but Lor'themar was not without his backing either.

The problem then lied with the fact that Lor'themar didn't want it... and neither did Aethas. ❝ I am not a King. I was not raised to be a King. You did not believe me even worth your time to speak to and now you want to answer to me. ❞ Rommath as well had made his thoughts on the matter (and on Aethas himself) more than clear in the past.

There was a lingering thought in the back of Aethas' mind that Lor'themar was only pushing it to rid himself of a position he'd never wanted, so he could return to the life he so dearly missed. As frustrating as it was, he couldn't even fault him for it. By rights alone, this was far more Aethas' responsibility than it had ever been Lor'themar's, and he would not have found himself surprised if the former ranger felt embittered by Aethas having kept quiet about his claim to the throne all this time.

❝ ... This is not what Kael'thas wanted. ... Though I admit, I do not know if that matters to you, ... or should even matter to me. ❞