Sunrider, tenth of his name, ruler of the kingdom of Northaven was joined by his sons, Ash, Birch, and now Yew, who had made a complete recovery from his ordeal. The prince entered and bowed before the king, "Father!"

"Yew!" Sunrider rose up from his throne and embraced his son for several moments and stepped back, "How do you fare?"

"Honestly, had it not been for Willow and his friends, I fear my fate would of have been far worse. I am still strong and able enough to rule Westfall with Liliandra although mentally, I may still have some minor issues in that regard." Prince Yew confessed to the king.

"Perhaps its time to have Willow's insight on this matter." Sunrider sent a messenger to find Willow.

********

Down in the banquet hall, the crown prince was having a conversation with Mandur, Andaerean, and Captain Lion. "We are most grateful for the aid from Asylum."

Captain Lion raised his glass of wine to him, "Your highness, when ambassadors of a sovereign nation come to Asylum seeking aid, we will most assuredly answer the call."

Andaerean sipped his wine, "It's good to see your brother, Prince Yew here in Arborhaven, my prince."

"Aye, Prince Ash." Mandur set his empty stein on the table, "One can only hope that Prince Willow might stay now."

The crown prince raised his glass of wine, "The gods showed us favor against this terrible foe and we prevailed!"

"Indeed we did, brother," Prince Willow entered the room with Serna in tow, "Mandur, Andaerean, Lion, all of you fought valiantly this day. Northaven owes each of you a debt that it can never repay."

Captain Lion nodded to the ranger and spotted the shield maiden, "So you are the one who aided the loremaster, Arlhenwe in the undercroft, young lady?"

"Yes, sir," Serna smiled, "It was me. But I wasn't alone. I had help from Caliaphy, she's a fairy from Asylum. Together with Arlhenwe we were able to raise the wards and protect the cities."

"A fairy, young lady?" Captain Lion smoothed out his mustache, "Well now, where is this fairy that I might see her?"

"The Bronze Man banished her because she refused to behave herself after we completed our mission," Serna confessed, "She decided to engage in some mischief making and was unapologetic about it. So, she got banished. But don't worry, you can see her tomorrow. That is when her banishment will end."

"Banished her?" Captain Lion nodded with approval, "Well, I suppose it was justified in that regard, young lady, however, not all mischief is one sided."

"True," Serna confessed, "And when she returns tomorrow morning, you can get her side of the story. So, how did you and your people get here so fast, Captain Lion?"

A servant of the king entered the banquet hall and found the ranger complimenting the others. "Prince Willow, your father has sent me to find you. He requests your presence in the throne room."

"Thank you," The Ranger turned towards the others, "Everyone, please excuse me, I have to go but I will return as soon as I can. Eat, drink and make merry as much as you can."

**********

Prince Willow followed the servant back to the throne room of the king.

When the ranger entered, he could see his father and his brother, Yew, prince of Westfall.

"Willow!" Yew turned to see him come in and embraced him, "Thank you! Thank you for defending Westfall and aiding my wife when our hour was most desperate. My only regret was that I could not be there myself. Instead, my over-confidence got the better of me and the enemy overwhelmed my company."

"Yew!" Prince Willow embraced his older brother warmly, "It is good to see you on your feet. And you need neither thank me for defending Westfall nor for aiding Liliandra. We are kin are we not? And what I did is what kin does for each other in their time of need!"

Yew went quiet as the memories from his imprisonment came up to the surface again. Closing his eyes he calmed down and looked back at Willow, "Father has told me everything. I am glad that you came back home with allies when we needed them the most. Willow, will you stay home now? I have missed the company of my brother, as Ash and Birch have."

"And I have missed your company as well, brother!" Willow confessed, "And Ash and Birch and father's company too! And while I have few reasons to continue my leave-taking, with all that has been going on, I have yet to decide upon whether I would stay or go. Simply put, I have not seriously thought about what I want to do next."

"I was hoping that you would stay for awhile at least, Willow," Yew placed a hand on the ranger's shoulder, "for old times sake. Then if you choose to leave and rejoin your friends, Ash, Birch and myself would understand. Now I know telling tales of high adventure is not your area of expertise but consider what father could learn of the outside world beyond our borders to prevent anything else from happening?"

"When did you get to be so wise?" Willow gave Yew a quizzical look with a sly grin, "Methinks you've been listening to Liliandra as of late. You know she is smarter than the both of us put together, don't you?"

The Ranger chuckled before he got serious, "But you make a good point brother. True, our father could use what I have learned from the outside world to prevent something like this from happening again. And true, it would be good to stay home for awhile for old times sake. But there is another reason, a deeper reason, why I should stay awhile."

Willow looked at both his father and his brother, "Ash, Birch, you and I are the Sons of Sunrider! That means something to our people. It means hope. It means order. I means continuity. It means that regardless of what happens either today or tomorrow, there will always be an Elven king--born of our bloodline--sitting upon The Mahogany Throne! This knowledge provides both aid and comfort to our people. Two things which they will need as they try to rebuild their lives and as we try to rebuild our kingdom."

Prince Willow sighed, "When we stand before our people with our father upon the throne and the four of us flanking him, our people take great solace in knowing that their king is not only with them but that their princes stand with them as well. We are the Sons of Sunrider, Tenth of his name, we are a symbol of their hope for not only today but also for a brighter tomorrow. Therefore, I will stay."

Willow held up his hands, "But only until our land is healed and our reconstruction is complete. Our people need us to be a family--a whole family--again! And while my head tells me that my duty as prince lies here with you now, my heart longs for the open road. This may not be the answer that you want to hear, father, brother, but this is where I stand. What say you?"

*********

While they were in the banquet hall, Irzen and Birch were among the troops celebrating their victory and literally trying to drink each other under the table.

"Lord Drow, I have never heard of this vintage called Cannard!" Birch settled himself near a table amidst the revelry of the Elven and Dwarven soldiers, "Is this a delicacy where you are from?"

Irzen offered the prince his wineskin full of the hard liquor, "I assure you, your highness, there is nothing delicate about Cannard. Try some and see for yourself."

"As you wish!" Birch threw his head back and took a long swig of the liquid until he had his fill. "YE GODS! This concoction has a kick to it! You Drow make strong stuff! This Cannard burns like fire all the way down! My eyes--my eyes are watering like a pool of glistening rain! And my head, my head feels like an anvil hammered by a thousand blacksmiths using tiny hammers!"

Irzen broke out into a raucous laugh.

"Do you have more?" The Prince asked with a silly grin.

Mandur came over upon hearing the raucous laughter at their end of the banquet hall refilling his stein with ale. He knew where this was going and took a wager on how long he would fare before he passed out.

"Plenty!" Irzen grinned from ear to ear as he pulled out another wineskin, "Drink up, your highness, there's plenty where that came from."

The hill dwarf sat down near a table with his fellows watching the bardic prince drink down another wineskin of Cannard. "Da lad has lare idea yir'th about oz happen!"

translation:: "The lad has no idea what's about to happen!"

Birch eagerly took the second flask and began to drink his fill. Once he was done, the Prince turned towards the Swordsman, "You know what, Lord Drow, I think I'm beginning to acquire a taste for this vintage."

Irzen turned towards Mandur and gave him a knowing glance with a mischieveous smile.

Mandur and his fellows burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha!"

The Prince also began to stumble to his feet, "And I feel a song coming on!"

"You don't say!" The Swordsman laughed.

Alyson and Lazheros clearly hear the raucous laughter emanating out from the banquet hall and entered to see Prince Birch in a drinking contest.

After Birch warily rose to his feet, the Elven Prince broke out into a little song and dance that brought silence to the entire room.

On, Moli ol, moli ol, casaer tyl
Iar ail si mia;
Ai eil's car bai jhylol'
Moli Eidor, Balesia, Beli os Belia.
Myrn sosti, eil's bai sosti sai mae
Orys eil myl;
Mai moli ol, moli ol, casaer tyl,
Thys ti eil tia kar.

When he was done, Serna began to clap for him as did the rest of the assemblage. In response, Prince Birch began to take a series of bows and then--mid-bow--he promptly passed out and nearly fell flat on his face before Irzen caught him.

Dragging the unconscious prince over to a nearby chair, the Swordsman plopped him into it and turned to the others, "Eat, drink and make merry everyone! The good prince need only rest a little after entertaining us! I fear his Cannard got the better of him!"

Some of the party broke out into laughter as Irzen returned to drinking his rare vintage.

Translation:

Oh, Shine on, shine on, harvest moon
Up in the sky;
I ain't had no lovin'
Since April, January, June or July.
Snow time, ain't no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon;
So shine on, shine on, harvest moon,
For me and my gal.

"Not bad. Not bad at all, Alyson." Lazheros commented on the bardic prince's song.

She shrugged, "I agree but I prefer your songs over his."

"And that is why you are the only who shall hear them." He smiled and let her go ahead of him.

Making their way over to the swordsman and the hill dwarves, Alyson went over and filled a cup of wine for herself, while Lazheros sat down with Mandur. He reached in his robe and pulled out a stein and filled it with dwarven ale.

Alyson could only stare at him, "Uh, since when do you drink ale, Lazheros?"

"Dwarven ale and only dwarven ale when the occasion is right," The bronze man drank half of it down with a grin.

"Like winning a war, mayhaps?" Irzen smiled at Lazheros and Alyson, "You two did well today. Had you both not been there, I fear the outcome of our struggle would have been less certain. Thanks!"