"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 gentle greeting to Irzen.

Irzen coughed as his back was slapped but he took it all in good measure.

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."

"Of course! Of course!" Prince Birch waved for some of his servants to attend them, "Travelling such a great distance and fighting both fires and vampires at the end of such a trip can well exhaust anyone." The Prince turned to his servants, "Please escort Lady Alyson and The Grand Cleric to their rooms. You shall rest well this eventide."

Lazheros walked side by side with Alyson as the servant lead up to the guest quarters. When told where each of their rooms were, the Bronze Man spoke up, "One room shall suffice for the both of us. There is no need for an extra one. However, a room between ours and the Platinum Knight will do for the Shield Maiden and her friend, as an added measure to keep her safe."

"Of course, my lord," The Servant bowed, "Your sleeping arrangements shall be done as you requested, my lord."

Princess Cauladra addressed the others, "As for the rest of you, would you like to be shown to your rooms or would you rather dine with us before you retire?"

"I am still wide awake, your highness and I am eager to learn about how you conduct your city as such. Perhaps an exchange of information in regards to our very different city states based on the people and their culture. Would you not agree?" Madeous replied with another court bow.

"I do agree," Princess Cauladra smiled as she motioned towards the table, "Such a conversation would be most welcome and perfect for an eventide meal. Please join us."

The platinum knight started follow Princess Cauladra towards the dining room and paused to look back at the swordsman, "And what you, Irzen? Will you be joining us, or do you have other things on your mind?"

"Of course he will join us!" Prince Birch came up behind Irzen and slapped him on the back once more, "Any words you have would be most welcome! Besides, I have long been curious about your kind, Lord Drow. With all of the treachery, deceit and evil that your kind perpetrate upon others and themselves. How do you ever manage to run a civil society?"

"Carefully!" Irzen responded with a cough as he walked with the others, "Very carefully!"

"I see!" Prince Birch turned towards Madeous, "And what of you, Platinum Knight, you are a king. How do you run your lands?"

*******

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."

"It is wonderful to see you too, Captain Lion," Serna curtsied before the Airship Captain, "And you need not worry yourself about Caliaphy. She will not leave my side nor bring any mischief to you and your men whilst we are here in Eastport. Isn't that right, Caliaphy?"

The kurori gulped again and gave the Shield Maiden a nod, "Uh-huh. Er I mean..yes I will stay with you. No problem here."

Captain Lion narrowed his eyes at Caliaphy for a moment before turning his attention back to Serna, "Good to know and it is good that both of you remain within the palace safe from harm. I have had encounters with vampires in the past myself. They are nothing to trifle with nor to underestimate with their unnatural charisma and charms to seduce and lure one away others into their lairs as it were."

"We encountered vampires once before," Serna replied, "And I agree with you. They are nothing nice at all. However, I have a question: What are you doing here? I thought you and your men were on your way back to Asylum. Are you and your men going to be staying here in Eastport awhile and help us or are you going to be flying away soon?"

"I heard about what happened at the Dandy Muse, young lady. What you encountered there was only a handful of vampires. Fortunately you were in the company of veteran warriors and the like. As for my presence here in East Port, I had offered to give Prince Birch and Princess Cauladra and their entourage a ride back here rather than have them take the traditional slow ride back to their home. Now that there's another airship here to help with travel and trade negotiations between our two cities. The elves here have been rather pleasant to deal with upon the request of their prince, as well as forming an alliance against a common foe that more than often plagues and harasses the normal merchant and supply ships sailing from the west to the east and vice versa. And with vampires in the mix, I will gladly lend a hand to see that you are kept safe, Serna." Came a tailored and gentleman response from the airship captain.

"Thank you, Captain Lion, I really appreciate that!" The Shield Maiden smiled, "But you say there is another enemy out there aside from the vampires? And you say they are attacking ships on the high seas? Who are they?"