"With all due respect your highness, Prince Birch drank of his own free will in partaking the Cannard. Granted Lord Irzen here did get carried away but we were all celebrating after defeating the Orc warlord." Alyson came to the swordsman's defense. "If it bothered you so much that your husband was getting in over his head with the hard drink, why were you not there? It's not fair to judge someone's actions because of their choices when you were not there to witness them. I was there and so was Lazheros. On the other hand, I totally agree with you about the Cannard. Tastes as bad as Mexican Tequila from what I heard."

"Yeah!" Prince Birch agreed, "What she said."

"Do not question me on my whereabouts during the celebration, Lady Alyson, that is a matter best reserved for royalty of which you are not." The Princess admonished The Elementalist, "However, you do raise a good point. It is neither fair nor just to cast judgment upon an event that I did not witness. I acknowledge I have erred in this regard."

"You're right, I am not royalty, however, my uncle, Madeous Khyng is royalty. He is king of the kingdom beyond the Great Veil. He has proved himself in battle over and over again. Fought against Venger and won the hearts of the people he freed from the forces of evil!" Alyson replied curtly.

Princess Cauladra gave a raised eyebrow when she heard Madeous's name.

Madeous stood at his niece's side now adding to her defense. He didn't take too kindly to how Princess Cauladra replied.

"Your Majesty," Princess Cauladra acknowledged the king.

"Princess Cauladra of East Port, while my niece is correct about my standing rank and history. I do not venture about the Realm with my royal guard since everyone in my kingdom is treated equally. However, our arrival here was supposed to be a quiet one until we discovered the Dandy Muse had been undermined and infested with vampires. Because of this revelation, we were forced to seek lodging elsewhere in the city mainly due to their attraction to Serna here. I can assure you that we will remain to flush out this threat before we take our leave." The platinum knight stated the matter clearly.

"My husband informed me of the vampiric threat, King Madeous," Princess Cauladra responded, "And while I wish your arrival here had been uneventful, we are glad that you and your friends survived the vampire's nest. Even more so, we are glad that you are willing to stay here and rid us of this threat. I am not an ungrateful leader. Thank you!"

The Bronze Man stood there silently observing the whole conversation. The room was tense with an irate princess and a steadfast elementalist holding her ground.

Princess Cauladra turned to Lord Irzen, "Be that as it may, my lord, you will relinquish your vile liquor to my Hand Maiden. I will accept no refusal!"

"As you wish, your Highness," The Drow Swordsman pulled forth three flasks and one wineskin full of Cannard and turned them over to the Hand Maiden. "That is all I have on my person."

"Thank you, Lord Irzen, your flasks and wineskins will be returned to you with the Cannard still in them." The Princess turned towards the Royal Guards, "Stand down!"

The guardsmen sheathed their swords and returned their polearms to an upright position.

"Thank you, your Highess, you are most gracious," Irzen replied with a nod.

"Now, as my husband so eloquently put it," The princess smiled with open arms, "Welcome to The Princedom of East Port."

"Prince Birch, will you allow us to stay here in the palace?" Lazheros finally spoke up. "In return we will assist you and your people with the current vampire situation."

"Of course you can stay here!" Prince Birch boldly declared with his arms wide open, "As I said before, you are the Heroes of Northaven! My family owe our thrones and our lives and the lives of our people to each and every one of you!"

Madeous gave him a court nod.

Birch walked over to Irzen and slapped him on the back, "You have ever been our friend! You gave us victory in battle! We, in turn, shall give you refuge in our palace. Every need you have shall be met! Every want you have shall be obtained! You need only ask and you shall receive it!"

Alyson tried to stifle a laugh and failed as Birch delivered his not so gently greeting to Irzen.

The Prince walked over to Madeous and Alyson and placed a firm hand upon their shoulders, "And with all of you standing with us against this vampiric threat, I have no doubt that we shall emerge VICTORIOUS!"

"Yes well," Madeous nodded again, "I give you my word, Prince Birch and many thanks for allowing us to rest here within the castle. Alyson and Lazheros are still wary from our travels."

The kurori didn't utter a word when Captain Lion and Sir Gonagle spied her holding onto Serna's hand. She gulped trying to hide behind the Shield Maiden. These were the two people she'd hope not to run into again, especially Sir Gonagle. The Tinker Gnome promised to use her as target practice the next time he saw the Kurori.

"You're awfully quiet," Serna observed as she turned towards Caliaphy, "And why do you shirk away? The princess is angry at Irzen not at you."

"It's not the princess. It's Sir Gonagle, the gnome next to Captain Lion. Remember that story I told you at the Dandy Muse about crashing the airship," Caliaphy whispered in earnest, "Ah...he's still holding a grudge. A BIG grudge. I kinda destroyed all the steam works in the airship and he's tried on numerous occasions to snipe me right out of the sky."

"He's not going to try anything here, Caliaphy," Serna smiled at her friend, "We're in the presence of royalty. Relax!"

Sir Gonagle silently gestured to the kurori from the across the throne room. His eyes narrowed with contempt reminding her she was on his hit list.

Captain Lion came over quietly and with a gentleman's bow greeted Serna, "Young lady. It is good to see you again. As for your companion, I suggest that the kurori stays close to you at all times lest, Sir Gonagle withdraws his long standing grudge towards the Pest of Asylum."