A grin formed on the face of the elementalist at first, then a giggle slipped out when she looked over at the bronze man, who raised an eye brow at her. Alyson could no longer keep her laughter at bay and let it out, "Hahahahahahaha!"

Serna then took Alyson by the hand and marched out of the room with the Elementalist while she said over her shoulder, "Alyson and I had our differences and we worked things out. Now its your turn!"

The elementalist listened in on the conversation between the swordsman and the bronze man for a bit and shook her head, "I'm impressed they haven't started trying to kill each other yet."

"They just need to understand each other, Alyson, just like you and I did, "Serna giggled, "Once they understand each other, then they'll get along a lot better. You'll see."

"Yep."

"So which bed do you want?" Serna pointed to the two in the room.

"I'll take this one," Alyson walked over to the one against the north side of the room.

"Well, I'll take the other one," Serna ran over to her bed, leaped into the air and with a laugh landed on top of her bed with a soft bounce. Rising to her feet, the Shield Maiden began to jump up and down on her bed, "This is fun!"

*****

Lazheros just watched the two of them exit the room in disbelief.

When Lazheros and Irzen were alone together, the Swordsman said after an awkward minute of silence, "Gotta love that kid. She's smarter than she looks and she's more mature than she knows."

"She should enjoy her childhood as much as she can and enjoy it. There's no need to rush one such as her into becoming an adult." The bronze man said quietly.

"Too late," Irzen replied, "In some ways, she's still a little kid. In other ways, she's wise beyond her years. I suspect growing up in Stormhaven probably did that to her--between the orphanage and Baroness Meleranti's palace."

"You meant to say to Deeping Dale, not Stormhaven Lord Irzen." The bronze man corrected him again.

"I stand corrected!" The Drow sighed as he extended his hand to Lazheros, "Anyway, I want to thank you for healing my leg back at that village. You didn't have to do it, but I'm glad you did. So, thanks!"

"I do not like to see people hurt or suffer especially with the impending threat of the horde invading the ranger's homeland." Lazheros walked out to the balcony looking across the vastness of the magnificent Mallorn Palace. Then turned back to the swordsman, "How would you have dealt with such a threat had the horde decided to invade your home?"

Irzen looked at his open hand and shook his head, "Easily, as the First Lord of my house, I would have called an emergency meeting of our ruling Council of Houses in Shadow Haven. Once we met and I explained the situation to the rest of my peers, we would have put forth a plan of action that would have allowed us to defend ourselves by utilizing our environment to deadly effect by causing cave-ins, re-routing underground rivers and herding some of the Underdark's most deadliest, largest and nastiest monsters into the path of the horde."

"I confess when I traveled with Madeous and his friends, we did not venture deep enough into the Underdark to warrant any encounters with the denizens there, friend or foe alike." Lazheros said to Irzen.

"Be glad you did not," Irzen replied honestly, "Dragon or no, there are things in the Underdark that would give even the likes of you a run for your money."

The Swordsman joined the Dragon on the balcony, "We Drow do not fight as the Surface Elves do. They tend to fight two-dimensionally attacking from the front, rear and flanks while we fight three dimensionally striking at our enemy literally from all sides at once--front, rear, flanks, above them and beneath them. We would hit the horde in a series of hit-and-run attacks so hard and so often that they would have to abandon any attempt to invade us because we will have wittled down their numbers so drastically. Though we don't like fighting them, we Drow believe in wars by attrition."

"Guerrilla tactics? Sounds interesting in that environment." The bronze man inquired.

"You call them guerrilla tactics," The Swordsman corrected The Cleric, "We Drow call it asymmetrical warfare."

"Look," Irzen sighed, "I don't like you and you don't like me. I'm here to help Willow and you're here to help Willow and Alyson with whatever she's got going on." The Swordsman cut The Bronze Man off before he could say anything, "And don't deny it! I see the look of concern you have in your eyes for her. And that concern is more than just puppy-love."

"Ah," Lazheros's eyes gleam with satisfaction, "You apologized at the lighthouse when you arrived with Madeous and the ranger, Lord Irzen, once is enough with me. Be thankful, I'm a Bronze and not a Gold. They hold grudges and demand apologies for many life times. There it is, a confession. Was that so hard?"

"That was Sterling apologizing to you at the lighthouse," Irzen corrected Lazheros, "You are speaking to Irzen now and I never apologized to you for anything I said or did. However, I am doing so now. And confessions have always been easy for me, dealing with people that I truly do not like--less so."

Lazheros just listened quietly.

The Swordsman looked the Bronze Man in the eye, "You know, in the hundred years of service that I had to the Dark Lord, I learned one thing if nothing else: Even enemies can have respect for each other. So, for all of our sakes, I'm going to apologize for disrespecting you in your home and among your people and in Alyson's company. I know what she means to you. I was married once, a long time ago. And I loved my wife as much as you love Alyson now. So let's take a little sage advice from a little girl and mend our fences here and now."

"And why haven't you moved on, or forward? Is there no one else who has your heart?" The bronze man glanced about the room for a moment.

"It took me ten years to get over my wife's death," The Swordsman leaned hard against the balcony, "And I have dated many women since then. None of them were marriage material. And none of them measured up to the memory of my wife. There was one though, but, she was more of a love interest for Sterling than she was for me."

"And what will happen if the Young Ones of whom Dungeon Master summoned to the Realm succeed in turning Venger to his old self? What will become of the human half? What will become of you, Lord Irzen, will you return to your homeland?" The bronze man asked the swordsman.

"Even if the Young Ones were to succeed, defeat Venger and turn him away from evil," The Swordsman began, "Nothing changes. Sterling and I are one. Our relationship is symbiotic. I need him to live and he needs me to live. Before I merged with him, I was brash, hot-headed and quick to anger. Sterling is patient, level-headed and slow to anger. He has a calming effect upon me. In turn, my skills and knowledge of both the Realm and the Underdark keeps him alive. Without me, he would not survive very long outside of a city let alone a library. Back on his world, he is a Scholar and a Librarian. He neither knows how to use a sword nor a bow nor an axe nor even magic. His background in no way prepares him for the dangers of the Realm. I, on the other hand, am well-prepared for whatever the Realm can dish out. He needs me to survive as much as I need him to survive."

Irzen closed his eyes, "And when this is all over, I will return to Naermon Nithren and rest. I miss my son and my daughter. I miss my seat on the Council of Houses. I miss staring out on the balcony of my home overlooking the inland sea--or The Shadow Lake as we call it--that surrounds Shadow Haven. I miss watching vendors sell their wares on The Great Bridges leading into and out of my city. I miss watching the sail barges from my balcony as they float across The Shadow Lake. And I miss the cool spray of the sea air on those days when I would walk The Great Bridges sampling the wares of the vendors."

Irzen opened his eyes and extended his hand in friendship to Lazheros, "What do you say? Truce?"

"Very well, swordsman," Lazheros extended his hand, "I accept."

"Good!" The Swordsman shook the Cleric's hand, "Now that we have that out of the way. Are you hungry? I know I am."

+++

"I can not say now, there are eyes and ears always listening, Willow. Be mindful of your surroundings as you always have." Liliandra smiled to keep up appearances.

"I will," Willow acknowledged, "And I will retrieve Alyson and bring her back here for you to meet and so you can study her gauntlets. Unless of course there is somewhere else you would like to talk to her?"

The princess turned slightly, "Perhaps later, my lord. I am sure you and your companions are hungry from the journey here. You may stay here or follow my guardsman to your quarters if you wish."

"I will see to my friends," Willow began to depart before shook his head at the princess, "You need not be formal with me. I am your brother-in-law after all. You can still call me Wil if it pleases you."

Liliandra nodded slightly before turning to one of her hand maidens, "I shall await you in the dining quarters, Wil."

"My friends and I shall be there, Lili." The Prince replied before he departed the chamber and followed the guardsmen to his quarters.