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 of 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?"

"Ah. The kingdom beyond the Great Veil is run by an electoral council of advisers and one regent, who in my absence, oversees the region as it were. There is no one regent that rules in my stead, rather every ten years, a vote is cast to elect the next in line. Think of it as a ranking order if you will. The more renown one has in regards to being just and law abiding, the closer he or she will be able to become the new regent." Madeous sat down at the table and took a sip of his drink before continuing, "And how is the business of politics with guilds and merchants run here in Eastport?"

"My beloved has more of a grip on such matters than I do." Prince Birch seated himself next to his wife, "All too often, my duties take me far from my lands so she serves as steward during my absences."

Princess Cauladra added, "To answer your question, King Madeous, the business of politics with the guilds and merchants can be contentious at times. The Grand Guildhall serves as an administrative body which represents all of the guilds--sundry and otherwise--in East Port. While I do not attend guildhall meetings, they do--when they can agree on a matter of policy--send a herald to our court to petition us on a policy of importance. I always review the petition, weigh the matter and dispatch the herald with my answer. Sometimes my decisions are well received by The Grand Guildhall, sometimes they are not. However, all of my decisions are considered the law of the land and stands as so."

"Interesting. The way you sign off on certain matters is very similar to how Lazheros deals with matters in Asylum. When he is there and not elsewhere in the Realm, he reads and inputs his opinion or advice in matters pertaining to the guilds." He added his own insight on the subject.

Irzen seated himself and began to quietly devour his meal while he listened.

"We do things differently in my corner of the Underdark," Irzen chimed in his two cents, "In my homeland of Naermon Nithren, we have no king nor a royal family. We do have a ruling council of nobles called the Landsraad. Because the wealth of our nobility does not come from land ownership but through business and commerce, the nobles of our land are merchants who have bought their titles. Thus, the Landsraad represents all of the merchants and guilds in our land. All of the noble houses have seats at the council and we vote upon our issues and determine our policies."

"You have no royal family?! You have no king?!" Prince Birch scratched his head in confusion, "But who leads your people in time of war?"

"The Landsraad selects among its members a "General" Who leads us during time of conflict," Irzen concluded, "That person leads the war effort from the moment the conflict starts to the moment it ends. Once the war is over and we are victorious, the General surrenders their title and power to the Landsraad and we resume our lives accordingly."

*******

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?"

"Pirates, and outlaws. Nothing you need to worry about, young lady. What the airships under my command do are to provide passage for those crossing the entire length of the Fire Sea from west to east and vice versa. There are normal sailing vessels, such as Admiral Hessen's small fleet that patrol the shipping lanes from Port Thelmys to Asylum and to Gravelwold, to the southeast." He informed the girl.

"Airships?" Serna blinked, "I only thought you had just the one under your command. How many airships do you have in your fleet, Captain Lion?"

"Seven at the moment. Airships are complex machines that require certain type of skill set to even fly them. Currently, there are two here. The rest are in Asylum being built." Sir Gonagle was suddenly next to Captain Lion.

"Seven at the moment and more being built?" Serna exclaimed in pure disbelief, "WOW!"

Caliaphy decided to shrink into a fairy and go invisible. Sir Gonagle was making her very nervous. She flew up and landed on Serna's shoulder, "I'm right here next to your head, Serna...*yawn*..gonna take a nap."

"Okay, rest easy," Serna whispered back to her invisible friend.

Captain Lion shook his head and sighed, "Well then, would you like to join the others in the dining hall? Sir Gonagle and myself were about to head in for dinner when all this vampire mess happened and you arrived."

"Absolutely, I am famished." Serna smiled as she offered her arm to Captain Lion.

He laughed, "My dear, that is my job for you to take my arm not the other way around. Come along."

Serna laughed as well, "Pardon me, Captain Lion, for being so forward. After you!"

Sir Gonagle went on ahead into the dining room. With an astute bow to Prince Birch and Princess Cauladra, he went around and found himself a seat, "Ah. You have excellent taste once again for providing such exquisite food, Princess Cauladra."

"Thank you, Sir Gonagle," Princess Cauladra smiled, "Please join us. This conversation is getting more interesting by the minute."