In the grand hall of the Barov family castle.
As the quarrel dragged on, the words exchanged between the two brothers had already abandoned the surface-level pretense of kinship and noble decorum, becoming increasingly heated.
"What a joke. What's so great about being a traitor to humanity?" sneered Wilton, mocking his own brother.
"Or is it that you can't wait to throw yourself under the brilliant rule of those savages?"
"Traitor to humanity? Traitor to humanity?!" Alex's face flushed with fury at the accusation.
"If there were truly no other way, why would I make such a choice?
The Horde is overwhelmingly powerful, their Warchief has the Alliance dancing in the palm of his hand. They're almost at the gates of Lordaeron!
If Lordaeron falls and the Alliance collapses, who will protect the lives of humanity? Isn't it us, the so-called 'traitors', who are enduring disgrace for the greater good?"
Wilton scoffed at his brother's self-righteous reasoning.
"Enduring disgrace? Stop dressing up your cowardice. You just want to kiss Perenolde's filthy feet. I, for one, have no such desire."
He rolled his eyes and continued, "That Perenolde guy is nothing but a coward. And you believe what he says?"
"Show some respect, Wilton," Alex said gravely. "Perenolde is no 'mere coward.' He is the King of Alterac, a long-time political ally and rival of our Barov family! W
e must both respect and guard against him. Have you forgotten?
If he outshines us in front of the Horde's Warchief, and the Horde ends up ruling this world, where will that leave House Barov?
King Aiden has been eyeing our lands and wealth for years."
But his words failed to move Wilton in the slightest.
"In the end, you're still just trying to curry favor with the Horde. With those filthy beasts." Wilton's noble superiority oozed from his every word.
"These idiotic green-skins are barbaric and backward. Other than their muscles, there's nothing worth admiring.
They're no different from gnolls skulking in the forests. Wagging your tail for such a race, you really have fallen. I'm ashamed to call you brother."
At that, Wilton shook his head and sighed, as if genuinely pitying his sibling.
"Fallen? You dare say I've fallen?"
But instead of anger, Alex's expression twisted into something strange, a smile.
"I was trying to save you, and yet you insult me and reject my goodwill."
He gave a resigned shake of the head. "So be it. I had hoped to spare your life. But now… it seems there's no point."
His words made Lady Janice beside him tense with unease.
But before she could say a word, Wilton burst into a mocking laugh.
"Spare my life? You said spare my life? Hah!" He roared with laughter as if he had just heard the world's most absurd joke.
"You think those orcs can kill me? They can't even get into this castle. And you say you're saving my life?"
Watching his brother's smug expression and arrogant laughter, Alex simply shook his head.
"Is that really what you think? That hiding behind these walls makes you safe from the might of the Horde?
You're only this bold because you're standing in front of us. If you were actually facing one of them, you wouldn't dare make a single move."
His tone, full of pity, only served to enrage Wilton further.
"You, don't you compare me to your own cowardice!" he snapped, nearly losing control of his tongue in youthful arrogance.
"Even if an orc stood before me right now, I wouldn't flinch!"
"Is that so?" Alex's smile grew even more eerie. "I hope you'll hold on to that belief."
In the very next moment, a gust of wind seemed to blow through the hall. The air twisted, and behind Wilton, a towering green figure emerged.
The creature was shirtless, wearing only a light lower garment.
A banner bearing his clan's insignia was slung across his back, and around his neck hung what looked like monk prayer beads, except they weren't beads at all, but polished skulls.
A string of skulls. Combined with the gleaming long blade in his hand, the sheer menace was unmistakable.
His green skin and prominent lower tusks instantly revealed his identity, an orc.
When the orc appeared behind Wilton, everyone in the Barov household, servants, stewards, guards, even Lady Janice, was struck with horror.
An orc, capable of sneaking in like a rogue, had appeared at Wilton's back.
Coupled with Alex's cryptic words and sinister smile just moments before, the orc's purpose was painfully clear.
It was too late. The orc had moved too fast. Even Archmage Janice couldn't react in time.
The poor mother could only watch helplessly as the long blade pierced through Wilton Barov's back, and burst from his chest.
"No!" Janice screamed in agony.
She was the first to react.
The grief and fury of watching her son stabbed before her eyes pushed her to the edge of madness.
Arcane energy surged between her hands, one spell, and she could vaporize the orc where he stood.
The guards, too, drew their swords and stepped in front of her protectively.
Yet this orc was unlike the straightforward brutes of his race, he was cunning.
He didn't flee after the kill. Instead, he stood proudly behind Wilton's body, completely unafraid.
That defiance made Janice hesitate.
As a mother, revenge was not her only instinct, protecting her children came first.
Seeing the archmage hold her spell, the orc gave a wicked grin, then spat out a sentence in broken but understandable Common:
"See this, humans? This is what happens… to those who defy the Horde!"
With that, he yanked the blade free from Wilton's chest.
The moment the blade was pulled out, a flood of blood gushed from the gaping wound. It had been plugging the damage, but now it poured out like a crimson tide.
The orc's blade had struck true, straight through the heart.
The life drained swiftly from Wilton Barov.
One of the young heirs to the Barov family could only feebly reach a trembling hand toward his mother. His lips moved, but no sound came. And then… his life was gone.
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