"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!"

"Umm," The elementalist began to notice some of the servants looking in with frowns on their faces, "Serna, you need to stop now. We are guests here and I'd rather enjoy sleeping in a nice soft bed over sleeping in a dungeon cell."

"Okay," Serna ended her last jump by landing flat on her bottom. Turning to the Elven servants, the Shield Maiden asked with a warm smile, "Hello! I'm Serna the Shield Maiden. Who are you two? And, if you don't mind my asking, did you ever jump up and down on your beds when you were my age?"

The older one raised an eye brow at the human girl standing before them, while one of the younger servant with golden hair, and green eyes stepped forward, "I am Arlhenwe. No, we were discouraged from doing unruly acts within the palace here. Manners and etiquette were taught here. Frolicking in the fields or the woods, young one, and that was a very long time ago. Probably when your elders were children."

Serna leaped from the bed, walked over to Arlhenwe, took her hands into her own and stared into her eyes with a mischievous grin, "Come on! You have NEVER done a single mischievous thing in your life?! Not even one act of pure mischief?! It's just us girls here. And I won't tell anyone, I promise. Surely you did at least one mischievous thing in your life. Didn't you?"

Arlhenwe sighed, "I am not a child anymore, Serna. I haven't been one in over a hundred years, I'm sorry. Besides, your friend over there has a point, you are a guest here, please be mindful of those who reside within the Mallorn Palace."

"I will, I will," The Shield Maiden held up her hands, "In the last place I visited I was labelled a 'Disturber of the Peace'. Well I'm not doing that anymore. Not now, not here and not ever again."

The elementalist came over just behind the shield maiden and bowed to the two elven women, "Maybe they both did once upon a time, Serna but they're adults now not children."

"I know, I know," Serna smiled, "But we were all children once upon a time, weren't we? And you don't have to answer my question, Arlhenwe, your sigh is the only answer I need."

"If you're really insistent to meet other elven children, you will find them in the gardens where they are allowed to 'play' as you call it," The older chamber maid told the shield maiden.

"Great! Do you mind if I go see them, Alyson?" Serna beamed before she turned to the older chamber maid, "And what is your name? Since we're getting to know each other."

******

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 Causeways 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 Causeways sampling the wares of the vendors."

"I have heard of the vast underground seas but I have yet to see them in person," Lazheros admitted.

"They are a sight to behold," The Drow replied almost wistfully still with his eyes closed, "Imagine a glassy wet void upon which you could either float a boat or swim across. Imagine an umbral expanse before you for as far as the eye could see lit only by fairy light from lanterns along a long causeway. Imagine creatures in that deep that you can not only hunt and fish but also can hunt and fish you. If you can imagine all of that then you can imagine The Shadow Lake of Naermon Nithren."

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 am but we should wait for the ranger to return and give us an update. Two, the royal guardsman said he would return in a few minutes." The bronze man walked over to his backpack and took inventory on his belongings.

"Do you think you're missing something?" Irzen took note of Lazheros' actions, "These Elves may be many things but they do not strike me as thieves."

"Missing, no but thieves are thieves regardless of who they are and and where they come from. Old habits die hard and should some of the items go missing, the individual will be in for a shock of their life so to speak." Lazheros closed up the backpack again and set it aside. He looked around again wondering, "Hmm, what has become of Prince Willow?"

"If I was a betting man, then I would say that he is spending some quality time with his sister-in-law," Irzen walked over to a chair near his bed and sat down, "He's been gone for at least fifty years and I suspect that they have a lot of catching up to do."

The Swordsman held up his hands, "Don't get me wrong, I don't think he desires his brother's wife or anything like that. But I do think he likes her and respects her and enjoys her company. That's all."

"I agree with you in that regard. They do favor each other's company with the ranger having been in exile and traveling the Realm, and with the princess being a scholar and keeper of Elven lore in general. I am curious about something though, how did you and the ranger meet?" The bronze man inquired again.

"Wait a minute!" The Swordsman interjected, "It's my turn to ask the questions. You've interrogated me about my love life--or lack thereof--long enough. So how about you? How does if feel to be a Dragon? To live as long as you do? And was there someone special in your life before Alyson? A wife perhaps?"