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	Drenan’s eyes went wider and wider the more he read.  His hulking form flinched as he squeezed the paper at the end in an effort not to drop the damn thing.  The paladin had to forcibly clear his throat as he regarded the patiently waiting male again.  “Thank you,” he echoed softly.  “So… your mother is…?”

	“Archdruid Shele Skyvine, yes,” he mumbled a bit shyly.  “I came from Feralas to get this to you and your mate.  She asked me to make sure that both of you received it.”

	Soren appeared to try and peek past Drenan, but the muscular male easily blocked the sliver of view into the room.  “She is indisposed at the moment.  I will ensure she reads it as well.”

	“Okay, good!  That’s good,” Soren breathed with a sigh of relief.  “I’ll… I’ll be outside the inn if you two need anything.  Keep me posted, okay?”

	Drenan raised an eyebrow at the young male.  He clearly had to be in his mid-twenties at least -certainly a bit older than Lyrah- but Shele wasn’t wrong in calling him a gentle soul.  “Very well,” he answered reluctantly before he slid the door closed and latched it again.

	From beneath the sheet, the curvaceous Lyrah shuffled about to poke her horned head up curiously.  “Who was it?”

	Drenan snorted softly and took a seat on the edge of the bed, his eyes wide with shock as he wordlessly handed his daughter the letter.

	Lyrah took the parchment and quickly scanned it… and she, too, found herself nearly in shock.  “Okay, wow… this is a lot to unpack.”

	“Indeed,” Drenan agreed.  “Has it been [i]three years[/i] since we left Azshara?”

	“Right!?”  Further shuffling brought the naked Lyrah topside to sit cross-legged atop the bed to reread the letter.  “And I guess it’s good that Keldah’s gone, but quiet foes are the most dangerous.  You taught me that when I was little.”

	Drenan’s one-horned head nodded slowly.  “So I did.  Have you heard about this… Shadowlands thing?”

	“Nope, not a word.  But I guess that’s why there aren’t many visitors to Gadgetzan besides us,” she remarked, rereading the letter for the third time.  “What about the potion?”

	“What about it?” Drenan asked, his tone of voice empty and quiet.

	Lyrah looked at her father curiously.  “I was gonna get stuff to make more, but I guess there isn’t much point now.”

	The bull nodded silently, though his dumbfounded look appeared to slowly turn fearful.

	The naked shaman furrowed her brow and scooted closer to him, inherently leaving a small trail of her father’s seed upon the sheets as it trickled from her lightly-stretched pucker.  “What’s the matter?”

	“I…” Drenan whispered.  “I do not want to make any mistakes.”

	Lyrah reached out to softly place a hand on her father’s thigh.  “Mistakes?  Like… like, getting me pregnant?”

	This caused the paladin to visibly flinch, silently confirming her suggestion.

	“And why is that a mistake?” she prodded a bit more firmly, agitation appearing in her tone of voice.

	This seemed to break Drenan of his trance as he turned his Azure eyes to look into his daughter’s.  “You know why I have been taking it in the first place.  The last thing I wanted was to put a child on your shoulders.”

	“That’s not what I mean.  I [i]mean[/i], why is it a [i]mistake[/i]?”  Lyrah’s frustration had turned into anger at this point.  “Frankly, I’m twenty-one now, and I’m [i]well[/i] beyond the natural age for our kind to bear their firstborns.”

	Drenan’s gaze hardened at this.  “I am not saying you are too young,” he tried to assure her gently.

	“Then [i]why[/i] is it a [i]mistake[/i]?” she persisted, her voice growing louder.  “We’re both adults, we’ve been doing this for [i]years[/i] now, so what’s the problem, dad?”

	The paladin straightened himself upon his seat on the bed.  “This is the first time in a great while since we have spoken about children.  I did not realize you felt this way about children.”

	This seemed to temper Lyrah’s anger a bit.  “I haven’t said [i]how[/i] I feel about children.”

	“I think that is more apparent by your agitation,” he pursued.  “What brought this about?”

	Lyrah’s gaze softened at this, and her tone grew gentle once more.  “What happened back in Thousand Needles… that was scary, dad.  I mean, once we got into things, the stuff in the tent was fun.  But the rest of it?  Walking among enemies, not knowing if you or I were gonna get discovered or not?  It… it scared me a lot more than I wanted to let on.  And the more I’ve been thinking about it… the more I realize that Azeroth’s dangerous, and… and you never know when someone you love could just be… gone.”

	Drenan’s firm exterior crumbled instantly, and both of his muscular arms reached out to pull the naked Lyrah into his lap, wrapping her in a warm embrace.  “Sweetheart… I promise, I won’t be going anywhere for a long time to come.  You have nothing to worry about.”

	Lyrah tilted her head almost vertical to meet his eye once more.  “I hope that’s true… but all of it really got me thinking.  I wanna have a baby, and I want it to be yours, daddy,” she said outright as she melted into his embrace.  “And I really think I’m ready.  Even if we don’t have a home yet, I know I at least wanna try.”

	A look of intense heartbreak crossed Drenan’s eyes just before they closed, and his muscular arms pulled Lyrah into his warm, furred chest.  “I love you with all of my heart and soul, Lyrah,” he returned, his tone dropping to a whisper.  “But… I need some time to think about it first.”

	Lyrah’s gaze couldn’t have looked more crestfallen.  “What… what is there to think about?” she returned, holding a quiver back in her voice as best as she could.  “I don’t even care that you’re my dad, and I… I didn’t think that mattered anymore.”

	“It does not matter,” Drenan reassured her quietly, his mind overwhelmed with a flood of negative emotions and memories.  “That is not my concern.”

	“Then what is it!?” Lyrah cried and suddenly launched herself from his lap, whirling around to face him.  “Is it… is it me?”
